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Democrats across the nation have been watching with excitement as Donald Trump’s unconventional presidential bid unfolds. Their excitement level went through the roof Tuesday when The Donald came in first in a CNN opinion poll.
Conservative pundits and Republican Party leaders alike have taken aim at Trump due to his outlandish campaign so far. From Eric Cantor to Karl Rove, Republican heavyweights have all taken aim at the New York businessman.
Trump has made no qualms about taking them all to task, either. He took George Bush head-on at a tea party rally Saturday when he said, “Like him or hate him, if it’s not for him, we don’t have Barack Obama and I don’t approve of that.” In 2008, taking jabs at the 43rd president was popular, but this is 2011. Statements like that send shockwaves throughout the political realm.
What is most interesting about this whole Donald Trump saga is the demeanor he has brought with him on the campaign trail — he is running for president as if it were some kind of game, such as the one he hosts on NBC.
Since Trump became a public figure, he has shown he is willing to take any stance on any issue and back any candidate who would advance his career. Voters are not forgiving to people who waver on issues like abortion, gun rights and affirmative action, just to name a few.
With good reason, people don’t want a president who is making up their mind on-the-fly or one whose values change with each coming day.
If we’re talking strictly issues, Trump has been all over the map. He has advocated for a single-payer universal health care plan. He proposed a one-time 14.25 percent tax on the net worth of wealthy Americans in 1999 in order to erase the debt. He has also promoted both pro-life and pro-choice causes during different stages of his life. In all recent statements since he began his run for the presidency, Trump has fallen in line behind the Republican caucus.
If we’re talking about which party Trump supports, he has a penchant for following the Democrats. He donated $50,000 to Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel during his run for mayor of Chicago this past winter, and donated well over $100,000 to Democratic senatorial candidates during the midterm elections.
Yet, this guy is running for the Republican nomination.
The Donald has gone from interview to interview largely ignoring questions about his apparent shift in policy and has done nothing to address the huge sums of money he has donated to the opposition party.
I must note, this is one of the most absurd spectacles I have ever witnessed. A guy who has been all over the map ideologically and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats is now leading the pack of Republicans eyeing the presidency? How long will it be before the Republicans start beating him over the head with these statistics?
Trump goes from one cable news channel to another demanding the president’s birth certificate — the only cohesive message he has been able to get across. And this person — who is questioning the constitutionality of our president on the grounds of some wild, hate-filled conspiracy theory — is the frontrunner of one of the two major political parties in the most powerful nation in the world.
Recently, Republican heavyweights have backed off of this absurd birther notion after months of dithering on the issue. Sen. John McCain of Arizona has always resisted temptation to bait the birther issue. Just this week, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona vetoed a birther bill. Many Republicans have also mocked Trump because of the birther issue at the heart of his campaign.
This attention is the kind egomaniacs like Trump cannot stay away from. The television shows and the appearances on TMZ were just not enough — in order to fill the void, running for president seemed like a fun thing to do, so Trump compiled his money and did it.
I think around this time next month, NBC will be releasing their next season’s lineup, and The Donald will be featured once again. Our imaginations are all the better for having dreamt up this wild presidency.
Pete Christopher is a fourth-year secondary education student. His political columns appeared every Thursday.
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