We have 87 days until we vote for the most powerful person in the world. Trump’s polls rise and fall depending on whether he acts like an adult, or calls someone a loser. Meanwhile, Hillary presents herself as the anti-Trump and hopes the Trump train will derail itself as its conductor powers it with coal made from boasts and insults.
It seems the only time Hillary is in the news these days is after the daily Trump report. But even if Trump continues to lose supporters from the Republican establishment, the train doesn’t stop with the demise of America’s favorite demagogue.
The die-hard passengers on the Trump train are not going to disembark just because their leader fails to win. Trump’s ideals are now firmly set in the American political consciousness, and his popularity means that those who have those same ideals realize that they are numerous and powerful.
This “great silent majority,” as former President Richard Nixon called it, realize that they can influence not only the political dialogue and disrupt the establishments plan, but possibly elect their own leader to the highest office of the United States.
That means the anti-immigration, anti-Muslim rhetoric that perpetrates this election cycle is here to stay long after the November election passes. Millions of voters, including the 757,618 individuals who voted for Trump in the Texas primary according to realclearpolitics.com, still believe that immigrants are likely to be rapist and murderers.
The power of Trump does not come from his skill in giving speeches; his popularity grew by speaking what was already on the minds of disenfranchised white men and women whose views were considered too extreme to participate in the mainstream political discourse.
Without a representative to give these views a voice, they did not hold any political power or influence. Before Trump very few politicians were willing to use such extreme rhetoric.
Trump has laid a path that other politicians will try to follow. By breaking the Republican record for the most votes in a primary he has shown the massive popularity of those ideas.
So even if he does lose the presidential election, and America decides that he is not fit to fill the big seat, there are other seats to fill, and other elections besides the executive.
13.3 million people voted for Trump in the overall primaryThat’s 13.3 million people who not only agree with what he said, but agreed so much they took the time to register and vote for him.
While there may never be another Trump to take the stage and fill America’s televisions with shock and awe, there are certainly going to be those who will try. He might be the face of the movement, but he is not the movement itself. His biggest accomplishment is revealing the racist and reactionary population that most Americans thought was reserved for the deep south.
Trump was only able to run for the presidential seat because he was an established personality. Which means that others who wish to emulate his success and attempt to fill his shoes will move towards smaller elections.
Let’s get one thing straight, Trump’s rhetoric might be unique, but the implementation of his ideas are not too far removed than from those of the establishments. His wall is not so different than the fence we already have installed. The banning of Muslims from entering the US is not so different than the Japanese internment camps. (By the way, President Roosevelt, who authorized the executive order, was a Democrat.) Gun rights and anti-abortion policies are also common beliefs in the GOP.
Most of the establishments fear comes from his personality. His willingness to embrace the shocking and vulgar. The way his reality is made up not of actual events or rigorous studies, but by casual correlations that often have a racist and violent slant.
Why bother with evidence when you can just claim that thousands of people were cheering in the rooftops when the Twin Towers fell? Why worry about statistics when calling undocumented immigrants rapist and killers? Why bother proving anything when you can just say that you heard from someone else that Obama is Kenyan?
This anti-intellectualism might be difficult to pull on the national scale, but it will be much easier to implement on the local level. A local politician can get away with those same statements if the mainstream media is not analyzing every statement they make. That same politician will also find it easier to implement local laws based off of those casual correlations.
Trump may not win, but his supporters are not going anywhere. So if the idea of Trump sitting in the presidential seat gives you insomnia, remember that there are 13.3 million more reasons to keep you up at night.
