The Trump Effect

Leading up to the newest election cycle, which seems to have started really early but that's another post, speculation was that we were going to be treated to another Clinton/Bush matchup. Albeit this time it would be Hillary vs Jeb, but something happened along the way to shake up the perception of 2016 and his name is Trump. Like Cookie Lyon, Donald Trump has no filter on what comes out of his mouth and has changed the direction of the 2016 election for better or worse.

Almost as if the Presidential Election was a TV show, Trump blew into it and shook things up at just the right moment. Of course people were going to talk about the election but there was about as much excitement going into it as money being thrown at Lindsay Lohan to star in a movie. With his announcement that he was gunning for the Presidency, Trump made it clear that he was going to make people talk one way or the other. He made certain of that with his statement on immigration, "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists." Immediately the press lit up with comments about how Trump could never win and he was over before he began.

However like any good reality show villain, Trump proved that he wasn't going anywhere. Sure his comments created a small backlash against him, but when he couched them as being 'truth' hardcore fans went crazy. Thus the issue of immigration was brought to the forefront, and helped Trump start climbing in the polls. Which forced the other Republican Candidates to take him seriously and address the issues that he was bringing up.

The thing about Trump is that he is easily able to grab headlines by saying outrageous things. Now his competitors are being forced to scramble and do the same thing. Bush is being forced outside of his comfort zone, and starting to show potential voters that he's not ready to step up to the big leagues. Dr. Ben Carson was once known as a brilliant neurosurgeon but now he is making headlines for spouting outrageous right wing theories. When Carson began talking about the Holocaust and how it could have been stopped with guns, that was the tipping point of The Trump Effect (TTE).

For now it seems to be contained to Republican candidates but with the General Election rapidly approaching, it will be fascinating to see how TTE plays into it on both sides of the aisle. Even if Trump doesn't snag the nomination, the things that the future nominee is saying now will undoubtedly play some role in the General Election. Will the future Democrat nominee be forced to "say what's on their mind" as well, or will they keep it low key as they have so far? That remains to be seen, until then we have gems like Trump accusing former President George W Bush of sleeping on the job and failing to prevent to 9/11. This will be an exciting and entertaining primary season. For that we owe Mr. Trump a thank you.