Banking on a radical change in polls once primary voter get serious, the GOP establishment thinks that 69-year-old real estate mogul Donald Trump will get kicked to the curb. Comparing Trump to Godfather’s Pizza king Herman Cain in 2012, when he led many GOP candidates, including eventual nominee former Massachusetts’ Gov. Mitt Romny, three months from the Iowa Caucus isn’t realistic. University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato told CNN Sunday, Nov. 22 that he saw parallels with Cain, believing GOP primary voters would abandon Trump when the voting starts. Yet when looking at the current GOP field, there’s really no Romney in the pack, making such predictions pure fantasy. There’s zero comparison between Trump and Cain, other that both were not elected officials or Washington insiders. Unlike Trump, Herman Cain was no household word.
Whatever Trump’s controversial public remarks, including attempts by reporters to bate him into untenable positions, like registering Muslims for a surveillance database, they’re easily overlooked. “Are you unequivocally now ruling out a database for all Muslims?” asked ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, former President Bill Clinton’s press secretary. Responding the Nov. 13 Paris attack that killed 130, injuring hundreds more, Trump suggested tighter vetting of President Barack Obama’s plan of admitting some 10,000 Syrian asylum-seekers. ”We have no idea who these people are,” Trump told Stephanopoulos. “When the Syrian refugees are going to start pouring into this country, we don’t know if they’re ISIS, we don’t know if it’s a Trojan Horse . . .” said Trump, stating his views why, given the current global terrorist threats, more vetting is needed to protect U.S. national security.
Obama rebuked the House for passing a bill Nov. 19 to delay Syrian refugees from entering the U.S., saying there’s little risk in admitting “grandmothers and children.” Trump pointed out that many refugees he’s seen are able-bodied young men, calling for more checks-and-balances. “When I look at the migration and the lines and I see all strong, very powerful looking men, and I see very few women, I see very few children, there something strange going on,” Trump told Stephanopoulos, disputing Obama’s narrative that there’s nothing to worry about. Calling the House bill a “potent recruiting tool for ISIL [ISIS],” Obama went beyond his pay grade, opining about terrorist recruitment. Dismissing national security risks of his Syrian immigration quotas, Obama helps make Trump’s argument for many Americans. Letting ISIS run wild for years hasn’t helped Obama’s credibility.
Speaking in Birmingham, Ala. Nov. 21, Trump called for more surveillance in America’s mosques, prompting criticism from conservatives and liberls. “The people that are involved in those mosques, they know who the bad ones are and they know who the good ones are, but they don’t talk,” said Trump. “We have to surveil those mosques,” referring to radical-like imams who, through fiery sermons, encourage less balanced devotees to commit violence. While the press, like Stephanopolous seek the “gotcha” questions, Trump’s appealing to voters’ common sense about appropriate precautions in an era of global terrorism. Whatever one says about Obama’s approach to the war on terror, he’s let ISIS fester in Iraq and Syria to the global terrorist threat that hit Paris with a wrecking ball. Unlike past presidential candidates with short life-spans, Trump’s led the GOP polls for months.
Trump’s staying power stems not from his outsider status but his political charisma, generating more buzz and larger crowds than other presidential candidates. Suggesting that Trump’s numbers will fall off once the electorate gets serious ignores clear differences between past GOP candidates and the current list. Looking at the field, there’s no break-out candidate on the horizon, with most the GOP’s favorites like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker [dropped out] all polling so low there’s little chance to bounce back. Among other GOP candidates, like retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, New Jersey Gov. Christ Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, there’s little chance to rally back. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich commands so little interest, it’s doubtful he’ll rise to the top.
If GOP Party insiders haven’t noticed, the GOP’s powerful media wing, represented by right wing radio icons Rush Limbaugh, Fox News’ Sean Hannity and best-selling author Ann Coulter have jumped on the Trump bandwagon. None of past flash-in-the-pan candidates, like Herman Cain, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) are relevant. Not one of them commanded the audiences or interest as Trump. GOP hopefuls, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), have so many negatives, it’s inconceivable that they’d wind up consolation picks. Trump’s staying power begins-and-ends with his charisma, attracting more interest than other GOP candidates. Whatever his minor gaffes, he’s saying all the right things about U.S. national security. His past statements about border issues or current Syrian refugees are easily forgiven.
