Donald Trump has surprised just about every political pundit. In the past months, he has rocketed past once-favorites Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. Although Trump is the most inappropriate and reckless member of the GOP’s field of candidates (currently 16 strong), his candidacy is of great value, providing a necessary wake-up call for the political establishment, a wake up call that should not be ignored: the establishment is out of touch with its voters who have grown fatigued of the scripted remarks of career politicians.
Trump’s remarks in debates, on the campaign trail, and throughout his business dealings are inexcusable—not that he tries to excuse them. His comments on women are sexist, his comments on Mexicans are racist, and his overall persona is crude. Many public figures have been insulted by Trump, including Arizona Senator John McCain, Fox News’s Megyn Kelly, and his fellow candidate Carly Fiorina.
On top of all this, Trump lacks any substantial policy positions. The only policy that he seems to discuss regularly is his extreme vision of immigration reform that consists of mass deportations, the end of birthright citizenship, and the construction of a massive wall along the U.S.-Mexico Border, paid for by Mexico. Trump’s plan to deal with the Islamic State, involving “bombing the hell out of those oil fields” in Iraq, has been criticized by many experts in military operations. And when asked to describe his plans to create jobs in America on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” Trump said that he would “just do it.”
Even though Trump lacks substance and respect as a candidate, he has great value in the Republican primary, as he may finally teach the GOP, and maybe even the Democratic establishment, a lesson. Trump has tapped into something real that is beginning to take hold of American politics: political apathy. People don’t care about politics. In the 2012 presidential election, voter turnout was at 57.5%. In the 2014 midterm elections, voter turnout was at 36.3%, the lowest since 1972. The American electorate is sick and tired of classic, scripted establishment politics and is hungry for a candidate who will throw away the established political norms. People are angry at the current state of stagnation in Washington and want a candidate that is a “doer.”
The desire for entertainment over intellectual seriousness is prevalent elsewhere in contemporary America life. People would much rather tune into reality television or watch football on Sunday night than read the news. All of this anger and dissatisfaction with the current political system has been channeled into one candidate: Donald Trump. Trump has schooled the political establishment by, against all odds, successfully harnessing underlying discontent within the Republican Party.
The establishment should stop criticizing and start taking notes. Trump has ignited a base of voters that were once apathetic towards politics before “Make America Great Again” became a phrase. As society consumes ever more empty entertainment, like those reality shows, the political world must try to make itself more appealing to average Americans. While Trump is an extreme version of this, his success reminds both sides of the need to reignite apathetic voters.
