By Ripon Media in College Days on October 5, 2015
By: Rose Hogmire
For most Americans, Donald Trump’s run for the Republican nomination and presidency has been met with an annoyance and fascination similar to a car crash disrupting your morning commute: you would rather it didn’t happen but you can’t look away.
As he champions more airtime than any other Republican candidate, according to CNN, and tweets soundbite conspiracy theories that accuse China of creating the concept of global warming in an effort to diminish U.S. manufacturing, voters have to stop and think whether they should listen at all.
It is a worn-out argument for media consumers now to dismiss celebrity news.
Over 22,000 people have signed on to look away from Trump’s “clownish attempt for attention,” while urging its supporters to share their pledge on social media.
Pledge campaigns to ignore a candidate not only creates conversation about that candidate, they fuel the passion of supporters for the candidate by pushing viewership of their message to ignore the candidate on social media.
Essentially, the haters perpetuate society’s obsession with Trump. Efforts to ignore Donald Trump aren’t just ineffective, they halt those in opposition from looking across the aisle and finding understanding in his supporters.
In a recent talk on NPR’s All Things Considered, Robert Spiegel discusses Trump’s appeal with Mark McKinnon, former chief media strategist for president George W. Bush. McKinnon remarked on Trump’s popularity, “… It really shouldn’t be that surprising because people are so fed up with the system that along comes this guy with huge brass clankers throwing up a middle finger salute to Washington, and that’s exactly the message that people want to send today. They love this alpha male. They like this predator hunter who’s tapping into our caveman DNA.”
Trump’s blunt insults on politicians and radical take on divisive topics reflects the anger some Americans feel toward the political system.
For moderates, the amount of effort he puts into convincing Americans that we need a physical wall between the U. S. and Mexico and a campaign to deport 11 million immigrants seems radical and laughable. What isn’t funny is the truth that lies behind Trump’s support, which is that some Americans believe a wall and deportation is what we need to solve our immigration concerns in the U.S.
Using the “Us against them” rhetoric and aggressively turning away from the opposition’s views and supporters, convinces no one. We should listen to Donald Trump and look to the success of his campaign to foster conversation about the state of political awareness and educate each other on feasible solutions to problems voters care about.
