Notorious for his composure, Rubio is maintaining his collected nature in his response to Trump's relatively unfounded claims and accusations. Speaking to WLAP Radio, Rubio recognized that Trump has been "exposed" recently and that he understands that Trump attacking him is just his way of reacting to his own situation. Rubio stands by his opinion that Trump is a laughable candidate in this race: "He really never talks about issues and can't have more than a 10-second sound bite on any key issue" (Rappeport). While I agree with Rubio here (in fact, after watching the GOP Debates, "10-seconds" may be a bit of a reach), the American people still seem to be intrigued by something about Donald Trump.
There must be something of substance which continues to draw the people in. After all, Trump is continuing to lead in many polls. According to a study done by Quinnipiac University, Trump is retaining his lead; he currently has 25% of the Republican support. However, other candidates are following closely at his heels. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina have currently have 17% and 12%, respectively. After the debates, it was widely considered that Fiorina gave the most compelling performance while Trump, though entertaining, was the worst. So, what is the verdict? Will Bush, Fiorina, and Carson surpass Trump entirely, leaving him in the dust? Or will he continue to win over the hearts of the American people? And what will become of Marco Rubio? Will he keep his position as a frontrunner, or is he all talk and no action? Comment below with your responses.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/24/politics/donald-trump-marco-rubio-foreign-policy/
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/24/taking-the-gloves-off-marco-rubio-punches-back-at-donald-trump/
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/presidential-candidates-dashboard.html
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/24/taking-the-gloves-off-marco-rubio-punches-back-at-donald-trump/
10 comments:
The act that Trump has been carrying on can only continue for so long. Although he gives a great performance and is able to hold the attention of the American people for longer than other candidates, his lack of logic and reason prevent him from going much farther. Eventually, the public will grow tired of broad and rash statements that rarely address the real issues and will lean towards candidates with more substance. Candidates such as Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are far more calm and composed during the debates and offer real solutions the numerous issues that face America. The greatest advantage that Trump has is his wealth, the statistic that he is only twelfth in fundraising is slightly misleading seeing as the amount of money that he has personally is far above any of the other candidates. I expect that Trump's campaign will eventually fizzle and that candidates with more substance and rational decisions will prevail. Furthermore, Trump continuously offends different factions of the American public and is almost certainly not earning the Hispanic vote, and is unlikely to have many women vote for him. Unless America can be continually entertained by Trump's antics, I would expect him to be surpassed by more stable candidates.
Marco Rubio is another story; he has been able to maintain a level head throughout his candidacy and responds with manners and formality to any attacks against him. Rubio has one of the leads in fundraising and the American people are rather familiar with his face. If he is able to continue being calm and collected, it would not be surprising if he took one of the leading positions in the polls. In the end, the need for money during the campaign is key to the success of many candidates and Rubio is doing well in that area. His fundraising skills, paired with articulated and clear opinions, offer him a possible top spot among the GOP candidates.
The act that Trump has been carrying on can only continue for so long. Although he gives a great performance and is able to hold the attention of the American people for longer than other candidates, his lack of logic and reason prevent him from going much farther. Eventually, the public will grow tired of broad and rash statements that rarely address the real issues and will lean towards candidates with more substance. Candidates such as Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are far more calm and composed during the debates and offer real solutions the numerous issues that face America. The greatest advantage that Trump has is his wealth, the statistic that he is only twelfth in fundraising is slightly misleading seeing as the amount of money that he has personally is far above any of the other candidates. I expect that Trump's campaign will eventually fizzle and that candidates with more substance and rational decisions will prevail. Furthermore, Trump continuously offends different factions of the American public and is almost certainly not earning the Hispanic vote, and is unlikely to have many women vote for him. Unless America can be continually entertained by Trump's antics, I would expect him to be surpassed by more stable candidates.
Marco Rubio is another story; he has been able to maintain a level head throughout his candidacy and responds with manners and formality to any attacks against him. Rubio has one of the leads in fundraising and the American people are rather familiar with his face. If he is able to continue being calm and collected, it would not be surprising if he took one of the leading positions in the polls. In the end, the need for money during the campaign is key to the success of many candidates and Rubio is doing well in that area. His fundraising skills, paired with articulated and clear opinions, offer him a possible top spot among the GOP candidates.
I agree with Gwen in that Trump's campaign will soon be on the decline. At the moment he is garnering so much support since he is voicing many people's frustrations with the government and the functioning of our country today. He has been able to do so with short and rash comments about his feelings on the issues as well as his plans for the future. Much of what Trump has said during the GOP debates and while being interviewed has been of little substance, but rather grandiose ideas that do not provide a very realist solution to the numerous problems plaguing America at the moment. Furthermore his offensive comments towards Hispanics and women will surely cost him. As the campaigns go on and more candidates in the Republican party start to drop out of the race, the supporters of those candidates surely will not be turning to Trump as their alternative, but instead someone (like Bush, Rubio, Carson, or Fiorina) who has been level headed and provided substance during their campaign. Therefore at that point Trump will start to see his numbers on the decline.
Many Republicans feel as if this is their race to lose and are eager to retake the White House, and will most likely be turning their support to more moderate Republican candidates who they know will do well in the election. This will provide new comers like Carson and Fiorina a chance to get further ahead as well as Bush and Rubio who have been able to prove their abilities with their time in office as well as their discussion on policy matters.
Trump, so far, has had a wildly successful campaign because of his ability to entertain. The majority of America cannot and will not see him as president. Part of the reason why he has had such a popular campaign is because he grabs the attention of people who would otherwise never pay attention to political news. Though he is such an outrageous character, he has been able to normalize the presidential race and make it much more palatable for a wider audience. Trump's validity lies in his ability to catch America's attention by shouting phrases that people want to hear.
Trump has made the presidential race something of a spectacle. This, in some ways, is a good thing, as far more people are watching the race (for example, the most recent GOP debate). However, they're primarily watching for the ridiculous things that Donald says. His entertainment factor leaves much to be desired when it comes to the stability and trustworthiness that a true presidential candidate needs. The people that Trump appeals to are, unfortunately for him, not the people who will vote in the primary elections. Though he has shocked many by maintaining a strong campaign for this long, it is fairly unlikely that he will be the GOP candidate left standing. As Gwen said, he has alienated far too many important voters to stand a fighting chance.
The more I ponder Trump's success, the more I realize his impeccable qualities as a Republican candidate. His campaign is really a perfect storm, and I would not be surprised if he *trumped* the forerunners of the GOP and made it to the general election. In a primary where, even to Republican voters, candidates are melding together through their similar qualities and ideas, Trump glows qualities that modern conservatives can support wholeheartedly. Almost half the Republicans who entered the race pandered to the modern conservative movement of anti disestablishment. Similarly to the tea party movement in 2012 and 2008, conservatives are craving politicians that aren’t “politicians.” Republican voters are fed up with political gridlock in the legislature, which they believe to be a product of Obama’s executive power and traditional republicans rolling over and allowing Obama to disassemble American values. Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Rand Paul, and Carly Fiorina are just a few examples of the initial Republicans to tout an “anti political” message. However, conservative voters understand that even these candidates are funded through PACs. Then comes Trump, golden hair, silver tongue, the guarantee he cannot be bought, and the assurance that everything coming out of his mouth his him and not his advisers. His appeal has branched beyond anti establishment conservatives, and has caused ripples in the polls for people like Marco Rubio and “Jeb!” I don’t think liberals can deny that Donald Trump’s support is just a fad anymore. His rants are near fear mongering to conservatives, but his message to “Make America Great Again” inspires those same conservatives to continue their passionate support of Trump. Similar events transpired in 1981, when a goofball conservative celebrity entered the race and made incredible claims of their potential as a leader, most of which undeserved and unproven. That man was Ronald Reagan. “No one thinks that buffoon could win. He is a complete joke. His popularity is fading and his big mouth is going to get him into trouble.” Sound familiar? We are all morbidly curious to see if history truly repeats itself...
I really don’t know how much longer Trump can keep this up. It’s become painfully obvious in recent weeks that he is completely ignorant of the issues. He’s actually achieved moderate success at concealing his deficiencies by attacking his opponents (which is effectively every candidate at this point) whenever a real question is asked. However, it seems that this doesn’t dissuade the voters. I don’t know if they are just content to be entertained or really fail to see through Trump’s persona. He had what was, by many accounts, an awful debate. Regardless, he isn’t suffering in the polls and many were content to crown him the king of the night’s festivities. It seems like he might just carry this charade through to November 2016. Everyone in the media says he will fall off the wagon well before then, but the sheer inertia of his campaign so far is really worrying. His platform doesn’t really extend beyond his plans for some sort of dystopian America with a giant wall to keep out what he and his constituents perceive to be an endless swell of Mexican criminals. America hasn’t gotten sick of this guy yet, and that terrifies me.
As for Rubio, he seems like a swell guy, but he’s still a junior senator. Does he really sound like a presidential candidate with a title like that? Maybe student body president. He comes off as a well-spoken candidate with well-reasoned arguments, but I don’t know if he has enough experience to be seriously considered for the bid. Many said the same about Barack Obama, but Rubio lacks the energy and the charisma that our current president had during his 2008 and 2012 bids. Rubio is really young, and he's a strong fundraiser. If he were elected, he would be several years younger than President Obama when he was first elected at 47. Rubio states that his youth allows him to be really in-touch with America’s issues. He points to his parents living “paycheck to paycheck,” and the fact that he only finished paying off his student loans four years ago. That’s certainly intriguing, mainly because most of the people on the debate stage could afford to pay off the student loans for hundreds, if not thousands of college students. He has well-articulated opinions on the issues, which seems insignificant but actually sets him apart from most of the field. If Rubio fails to win the bid in 2016 I expect him to be in the presidential conversation for many years to come.
Trump will not maintain his lead and he will soon be surpassed by candidates who actually have a political agenda and do not rely on personal attacks. Trump is leading in the polls simply because he is a demagogue that appeals to the sentiments and prejudices of the people, regardless of how impulsive or unintelligible they are. His promises to attack ISIS and build a wall across the Mexico-U.S. border simply do not correlate with his promise to reduce the national debt, but because he is saying what many conservatives want to hear, they support him without thinking his poorly-formed views through. Although Trump will continue to perform well in the polls as a result of his appeal to the sentiments of conservatives, Republicans will likely select a much less childish candidate with more well-rounded views than Trump. The fact that Carson and Fiorina are rapidly gaining in the polls shows that people are already growing tired of Trump's sensationalist and fiery rhetoric, and though neither of them are particularly moderate, they both have much more well-developed views than the Donald. Marco Rubio, however, continues to trail, and though he is definitely a promising candidate, he must bolster his campaign to surpass the fellow Republicans that are currently in the lead.
The reason that Trump has succeeded thus far is because the people who are voting for Trump in the polls are Republicans that are angry with the Obama administration, and they want direct changes made. Trump has addressed issues such as, immigration, increase in military force, and cuts in government spending etc. I believe that this support for Trump will die down. Right now, among 17 (now 16, because Scott Walker is leaving the race) candidates, Trump stands out because he is recognizable and he has a strong character. Once the number of Republican candidates decreases, the remaining Republicans who do not back Trump will have to congregate behind another candidate. Trump will inevitably fail in his campaign because of his rash comments about Hispanics, women and his personal blows against other candidates. He does not present himself well, and does not have legitimate solutions for the U.S..
Marco Rubio is one of the strongest candidates for the GOP; the most prevalent issues in the world today are related to foreign policy, and he has experience in that field. Also, he may be the best choice for the Republicans because he may be able to win in a general election. Other strong candidates that have received high ratings are Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina, who do not have experience, but are well versed on the issues that face the United States today. In the end, one of these Republican candidates will win the nomination because of their vision for the future of our country.
While Trump showed the worst scoring in the debate, he still is riding high as the top polling candidate in the race. However, Ben Carson is making a strong comeback from behind with 20% to Trump's 21%. Even this is unconvincing; the polling numbers for Trump, Fiorina, and Carson, the three candidates that did not come from political backgrounds, are volatile, and they seem to change by the day. Given this, it is hard to be confident in any of these candidates' abilities to hold national attention until next November a year and a month in the future. Each of these candidates seems to be on more of a one-off burst of adrenaline than a long winded marathon. It may be in each candidates' best interest to hold their cards instead of showing them all now. Marco Rubio is currently the front-runner for candidates with a political background, so it can be said that he knows the election process well. Rubio knows that he has to make a slow, methodical campaign, and as of now it works; Rubio leads Bush by 4 points and Kasich by 5. Only time will tell if Rubio's charisma and political talent will win him the nomination.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/27/politics/ben-carson-donald-trump-poll-2016/
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-carly-fiorina-marco-rubio-attacks
Much of Donald Trump’s out lash has been generally directed at Rubio; however, as of recent he has began to target Rubio. Many people are not taking kindly to his insults to the other candidates. At the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit Trump called Rubio a clown and recieved a crowd of boos before he could even finish his sentence. He then proceeded to attack Rubio on his immigration policies, calling he weak. Claiming that his policies changed based on his poll rating. Rubio reacted and made claims such as that he had a bad debate, and that Fiorina embarrassed him. He also made statements about Trumps inability to answer questions regarding national security. Rubio has actually began to increase in the polls, some attribute this to his good debate performances, while other still insist that it has something to do with standing up to Trump. However, Trump still insists that Rubio is not competition and in fact referred to him as a “baby”.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/politics/donald-trump-sees-in-marco-rubio-a-new-rival-to-taunt-but-gets-plenty-of-salvos-in-return.html
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