As we head into the Iowa caucus, Americans are getting serious about the 2016 race for the White House.
After an extremely painful series of debates that pitted a dizzying array of GOP candidates against one another in a kind of soapbox free-for-all, the Republican field has for all intents and purposes been narrowed to two candidates: Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
Trump’s meteoric rise to the top of the polls represents something of a coup for a system that has for years been dominated by an entrenched political aristocracy. The rise of Trump (and of Bernie Sanders for that matter) seems to suggest that America has become fed up with business as usual inside the Beltway.
Voters, it would seem, are ready for real (as opposed to Obama-brand) “change” and regardless of what you think about Trump or Sanders, it's fairly clear that both would run administrations that look nothing like what the country is used to.
And while we know that Trump has managed to secure an almost religious following in part by whipping voters into a veritable frenzy, we do not yet know what, specifically, voters see in brazen billionaire beyond the rather amorphous “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.
Here to shed some light on the subject is Gallup, who conducted research to discover what Americans think would be the best and worst things about a Trump presidency. Here are the results from a survey conducted January 6-10, which asked a nationally representative sample of Americans to analyze the Donald's character:
From Gallup:
Asked to name the best or most positive thing about a possible Donald Trump presidency if he were to be elected in 2016, Americans most commonly volunteer his business background, policies on immigration and honesty -- that he says what he feels. Other positives mentioned by at least 5% of Americans are his confidence -- that he doesn't back down -- and that he would improve the economy. More than four in 10 cannot name anything positive about a potential Trump presidency.
Americans are much more likely to mention potentially negative aspects of a Trump presidency than to mention positive aspects -- only 8% say "nothing" when asked about the downsides of such a presidency, with another 9% not having an opinion.
The list of possible negatives that would be associated with a Trump presidency are most focused on his personality and style. Americans say Trump as president would be too outspoken and impulsive, as well as arrogant, offensive and rude, ill-tempered and hot-headed, and "stupid and idiotic." Others mention that he lacks experience, is racist and discriminates against minorities, and that he would embarrass the U.S. and lose the respect of other nations.