Donald Trump: 5 reasons he’s winning

Matt K. Lewis Senior Contributor
Font Size:

Donald Trump is leading in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll (tied with Mike Huckabee).

To be sure, some — who want to disparage Republican voters — will attribute Trump’s success solely to the “birther” issue.  While that may certainly be a factor, there are several other reasons why Trump — whether his campaign is a publicity stunt or not — is catching fire:

1. Confidence.  As Joe Scarborough noted Wednesday morning of Trump: “He’s getting in Barack Obama’s face”.  Toughness and boldness are highly-prized attributes among today’s primary voters —  probably more important than ideology.  Trump is aggressively going after Obama, and some conservatives are eating it up.  My guess is that a lot of people who don’t buy into the “birther” stuff still like the fact that Trump has the moxie to bring up what is, decidedly, a dangerous and politically incorrect issue.

2. Duh, winning.  Trump has been a successful businessman.  Some people believe that if you can be successful in one sphere of life, it is transferable to another.  This may be a fallacy, but it works politically — especially when times are tough, the GOP field is decidedly weak, and people are looking for a savior.

3. Coolness. He’s famous and has mainstream bona fides.  Conservatives can talk all they want about not liking Hollywood, but they are arguably more enamored of celebrity than anyone.  Because Trump is seen as “cool” and because he is considered a legitimate celebrity and a winner — conservatives may perceive that he can escape the mockery from the mainstream media that Republicans have traditionally had to endure.  What is more, maybe Trump can legitimize conservatism and make it “cool” (or, at least, not lame) to be openly  Republican?

4.  Freedom.  Trump may not truly want to be president — a fact which may liberate him from the bonds that make politicians sound like politicians.  Remember how funny Bob Dole was after he lost his presidential race?  Now compare that to his demeanor during the campaign.  There’s something freeing about doing something for fun when you don’t have much to lose.  Trump would do well to remain unguarded — even if he does decide to take this seriously.

5. He’s not a politician.  There was a time when political experience meant a lot.  In the old days, Trump would have had to parlay his business success and fame into being elected governor before making a serous run for the presidency.  One gets the sense that those days may be over.  The old rules are either gone, or are perhaps going.  In fact, Trump may be aided by the fact that he has never had to cast a vote or appeal to a parochial constituency.  His style seems to match the current tea party zeitgeist.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel