That depends on who you're talking to. For the uneducated masses, he's the new messiah. The more outlandish the things he says are, the more they like him. Educated conservatives seem to be split on their opinions. Many of them think, or thought that he was a joke of a candidate while others were taking him seriously. Seems more of them take him seriously each day now, but they are still deciding if he's an ally or a threat. Liberals hadn't been paying much attention to him until the first debate. I think many are still forming opinions as well.
Here's my opinion, for what it's worth:
I understand the appeal. He says the things that the other candidates won't say because 1. He doesn't care. 2. Being a billionaire means he can. 3. It shows how fake everyone else is and how "real" he is.
I'm entertained by what he is doing. He's acting like himself and making the others look like fools while he is doing it. He's telling everyone, in no uncertain terms that he can't be bought by corrupt billionaires because he IS the corrupt billionaire. He's the one that does the buying and gets the favors.
It's quite funny seeing the other candidates squirm uncomfortably by his mere presence.
One thing that does strike me about the appeal though. People are tired of having candidates who are bought and paid for by corrupt billionaires, so they skip the middle man and jump straight to the corrupt billionaire? How does that make anything better? What we need is to be moving toward a system where elected officials don't have to be beholden to moneyed interests, not elections where only moneyed interests get to field the candidates.
Because of his positions though and because in principle, the idea of someone outright buying an election sickens me as much as candidates sucking off billionaires for donations does, there is NO way in hell I'm voting for him.
People are tired of having candidates who are bought and paid for by corrupt billionaires, so they skip the middle man and jump straight to the corrupt billionaire? How does that make anything better?
Just because he's a billionaire and has lobbied himself in the past doesn't mean he'll be as bad as the bought off politicians. The whole problem with lobbying is politicians end up representing their lobbyists not the voters or even their own conscience. At the very least Trump will be better than that, he will be able to act freely. Even if you don't agree with everything he stands for he'll be an improvement hence why the establishment is so clearly terrified of him.
There are only 2 ways that I see of sorting out this corrupt system. Either you elect someone entirely funded off small donations like Sanders or you elect someone like Trump who can fund a lot of his campaign himself. If you don't grab either of those options with both hands and just continue voting for the status quo that will do nothing to combat lobbying nothing will ever change.
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ximian ago
as a rank outsider, this man is comedy gold, a troll and raises some pretty important issues out of nowhere. how is he perceived in the stateside ?
JJEvil ago
That depends on who you're talking to. For the uneducated masses, he's the new messiah. The more outlandish the things he says are, the more they like him. Educated conservatives seem to be split on their opinions. Many of them think, or thought that he was a joke of a candidate while others were taking him seriously. Seems more of them take him seriously each day now, but they are still deciding if he's an ally or a threat. Liberals hadn't been paying much attention to him until the first debate. I think many are still forming opinions as well.
Here's my opinion, for what it's worth:
I understand the appeal. He says the things that the other candidates won't say because 1. He doesn't care. 2. Being a billionaire means he can. 3. It shows how fake everyone else is and how "real" he is. I'm entertained by what he is doing. He's acting like himself and making the others look like fools while he is doing it. He's telling everyone, in no uncertain terms that he can't be bought by corrupt billionaires because he IS the corrupt billionaire. He's the one that does the buying and gets the favors. It's quite funny seeing the other candidates squirm uncomfortably by his mere presence.
One thing that does strike me about the appeal though. People are tired of having candidates who are bought and paid for by corrupt billionaires, so they skip the middle man and jump straight to the corrupt billionaire? How does that make anything better? What we need is to be moving toward a system where elected officials don't have to be beholden to moneyed interests, not elections where only moneyed interests get to field the candidates.
Because of his positions though and because in principle, the idea of someone outright buying an election sickens me as much as candidates sucking off billionaires for donations does, there is NO way in hell I'm voting for him.
erowidtrance ago
Just because he's a billionaire and has lobbied himself in the past doesn't mean he'll be as bad as the bought off politicians. The whole problem with lobbying is politicians end up representing their lobbyists not the voters or even their own conscience. At the very least Trump will be better than that, he will be able to act freely. Even if you don't agree with everything he stands for he'll be an improvement hence why the establishment is so clearly terrified of him.
There are only 2 ways that I see of sorting out this corrupt system. Either you elect someone entirely funded off small donations like Sanders or you elect someone like Trump who can fund a lot of his campaign himself. If you don't grab either of those options with both hands and just continue voting for the status quo that will do nothing to combat lobbying nothing will ever change.
Drewcifer ago
I absolutely agree with this. Issue is if you aren't a fanboy of either, you see Trump as a crazy person and Sanders as a handout king.
I, personally, am leaning toward Sanders. I'll be happy if those two run against each other for president just so the status quo is broken.
erowidtrance ago
Either Sanders or Trump is better than the status quo for sure.