Dec 11: Trump, Hopefully We Don't Cover Him Next Week
The Trump-mobile continues to careen through the Republican Party in an unstoppable fashion. The latest New York Times poll gave him his most commanding lead to date at 35% (although, it was taken before the "banning Muslims" comment). A WSJ/NBC poll found that Republicans were split on the idea of banning Muslims (38% in favor, 39% oppose) but that the majority of Americans very much opposed it.
Dec 10: Forrest Trump
Trump's comments continued drawing condemnation from unlikely places yesterday but didn't seem to threaten his position as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. A Bloomberg online poll (important to note that these aren't scientific) of potential Republican primary voters found that two thirds agreed with Trump's plan. Unfortunately, with Trump threatening to stay in this race until the end, the damage his hateful rhetoric will do threatens to be deep and profound.
Dec 9: Trump Creates Rare Bi-Partisan Agreement
The outcry against Donald Trump's comments calling for a ban on all "Muslims coming to America" continued yesterday as even senior members of the Republican Party sought to distance themselves from Trump (and why wouldn't they really). Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said Trump's comments were not "what this party stands for, and more importantly not what this country stands for." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was joined in his condemnation of Trump by the White House who took a shot at Trump's "fake hair." Even J.K Rowling said "Voldemort was nowhere near as bad."
Editorial Aside:
We are honestly quite perplexed on the issue of covering Donald Trump. On the one hand, too much coverage lends an unwarranted credibility to his xenophobia and divisiveness. On the other hand, ignoring them means that we fail in our task of holding extremists accountable for their opinions and fail our readers (you). We are not alone in our confusion. The Huffington Post went from treating Trump as a gossip column, to taking him seriously, with Arianna Huffington declaring that she was "no longer entertained."
We will continue ruminating on how to tread the balance between holding Trump accountable versus lending credibility to his views. In the meantime, we welcome your suggestions. Maybe shooting him into space isn't a bad idea though.
GOOD READ: An Analysis Of Trump's Rhetoric Of Fear
Dec 8: Cruz Missile Surges To First Place In Iowa
Ted Cruz's strategy of being the tortoise against the combed over hare (aka Donald Trump) seems to pay off in Iowa as the Texas conservative rose to first place in the most recent Iowa poll. Cruz is loved by the Tea Party, Evangelical Christians and possibly his family (his old room-mate hates him) for his extreme stances on abortion and government spending (he routinely enjoys threatening to shut down the government). He has positioned himself to take over the right-wing mantle if/when Trump burns out.
