Whether you think Donald Trump is the savior of the Republic, the Devil incarnate, or something in between, you cannot deny the man behind the hair is shaking things up in the world of presidential politics. If he never achieves his goal of winning the White House, the Donald will at the very least dispel some of the myths that have plagued Republican politics for years.
The first of those is the notion that Caspar Milquetoast is the role model for a successful GOP candidate. Somewhere along the line somebody who likes to see Democrats win elections convinced the GOP that only the namby-pamby should run for office, but Trump apparently didn’t get the memo. His blunt, in your face attitude is one of the traits that has made him so popular with voters and hopefully Republicans will take note.
On a somewhat related note, Trump has also dispelled the myth that candidates have to suck up to the media to keep their campaigns alive. In the past, the media has taken on the dominant role with Republican political candidates (Democrats usually got a pass because they’re Democrats) who had to avoid offending any of the media outlets for fear that they wouldn’t get coverage. Trump didn’t get that memo either. True to his nature, Trump has no fear of calling out reporters if they treat him unfairly, bans those who do, and dares the media outlets to try to ignore him. At least with the Trump campaign, the proper relationship between candidates and the media has been restored. Instead of candidates worrying they won’t get coverage, reporters should worry they won’t be there when news is made.
Perhaps one of the most important things Trump has done is put to rest the lie that candidates must support amnesty to stand a chance of getting elected. The media tried to scuttle Trump’s campaign in the early stages by misrepresenting his comments on illegal aliens to paint him as a racist and a bigot. Trump doubled down instead of backing down, and voters loved it. Trump now not only leads the GOP’s main advocate of amnesty, he even leads with the Hispanic voters who were supposed to have been highly offended by Trump’s remarks.
Maybe, just maybe, Trump has also put to rest the notion that politicians have to lie to us to get elected. Ted Cruz, I believe, was right – it is “A Time for Truth”.
