NBC/Marist College poll confirms that 69-year-old real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump is starting to grow on GOP voters, putting him seven points up in New Hampshire and only two points down in Iowa. While the numbers are by no means conclusive, they do show Trump’s brash, take-no-prisoners approach resonates with GOP voters. When you consider the 15 other GOP candidates, none, other than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, has the name-recognition, but, more importantly, the charisma as Trump. Going after illegal Mexican immigrants and Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) Vietnam war record, while distasteful, shows Trump isn’t afraid to go after GOP’s sacred cows. Not since former President Ronald Reagan, has the GOP seen such a charismatic candidate, commanding big crowds and attracting the media attention needed to prevail in today’s buzz-driven campaigns.
Wherever Trump goes, whatever Trump says, whatever Trump does, the media’s covering the story. Trying to blackball Trump for daring to criticize McCain’s war record doesn’t work because Trump’s generating the headlines, selling more advertising for network and cable news channels than Pfizer’s Viagra. “I’m not that surprised because I see the kind of crow we’re getting,” said Trump on CNN’s “State of the Union” with John King. “We’re getting the biggest crowds and we’re getting by far the biggest ovations,” recognizing how he’s commanding his audience. No other candidate in the GOP or Democratic Party has a candidate that works a crowd better than Trump, including Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton. Trump’s rising popularity was confirmed in a recent CNN poll putting him at 18% in the GOP’s 16-candidate race, with Bush running at 15%.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus admonished Trump July 8 to tone down the rhetoric, especially insulting remarks about McCain and Mexican immigrants. Priebus thought his Tea Party leaning favorites, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), would eventually prevail in primaries attended by religious and social conservatives. What Priebus and the RNC overlooked was Trump’s charisma eclipsing the GOP’s arcane, at times obsolete, party platform, including old planks against abortion, immigration and gay marriage. Asked on Fox New’s “On the Record” with Greta Van Susteren if Trump would consider a third-party run, Priebus said he didn’t think so. Raising the issue, Susteren questioned whether or not the RNC could drive Trump from the GOP race.
Careful of what he says now, Priebus isn’t sure any longer whether or not any other of the 15 GOP hopefuls can compete with Trump. Priebus hopes that Trump exposes his weakness in the upcoming Aug. 6 Fox News debate. Trump would be well-advised to spend less time on the stump and more time boning up on key domestic and foreign policy issues before the debate. Trump has dodged reporters’ questions of what he would do, other than build a bigger border fence, to fix the nation’s immigration problems, where some 15-20 million illegal immigrants live in the States. “I want to run as a Republican. I think I’ll get the nomination,” Trump told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on his show “Morning Joe.” Once considered a “carnival barker,” Trump’s now more akin to a slick promoter like P.T. Barnum, who knows how to entertain an audience, regardless of politics.
Priebus and other GOP candidates are beginning to see that Trump’s for real. No other GOP candidate commands the media attention and public interest than Trump, fueling furious curiosity heading into the first GOP debate. Despite his current momentum, if Trump makes a major gaffe or looks intemperate in the first nationally televised debate, it could derail his momentum. Showing he can go toe-to-toe on domestic and foreign policy issues, Trump needs to spend more time mastering major issues in the 2016 campaign. “I’m tired of the name-calling—from everybody—and I think it needs to stop from whatever source, from whatever place,” said Priebus, hoping, against-all-odds, to stem the bickering before it undermines the GOP effort to eventually compete against Hillary. While still early on in the race, Priebus has changed his tune about Trump’s chances.
Trump’s surge in the polls stems from the public and media’s insatiable appetite to watch the real estate tycoon and media celebrity in action. Once considered an oddity in an otherwise boring political contest, Trump introduced more pizzazz in an otherwise dry presidential race. Comparing Jeb—or any other GOP candidate—to Trump highlights the huge difference in charisma, putting the real estate mogul into a different category. Watching GOP candidates like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former Texas Rick Perry, both polling at under 5%, call for Trump to get out the race, shows the disconnect in the GOP. While Trump controls the headlines today, he’d better show some substance in the Aug. 6 debate or face very real consequences in the polls. GOP candidates, especially frontrunners, should take Trump’s candidacy seriously or get prepared to face the music.
