Those who have been attempting to decipher the meaning behind the continued and rising popularity of Donald Trump’s presidential bid may want to start attributing it to the intelligence of the American people. However, with Republican party members’ long history of aversion to politicians who rely too much on intellectual arguments, questioning the intelligence of Republican voters may only further push voters into Trump’s favor.
One has only to look at the former President George W. Bush, who was often quoted as relying on his “gut” when he had to make important decisions. In the week’s presidential debate, Trump spoke at a fifth grade level, below all the other candidates.
Although his speeches may not be up at a 7th grade level like Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina, his blunt manner and aversion to apology have enamored potential voters. Trump and Carson have recently surged in polls and are currently the only two candidates who have numbers in the double-digits.
Polls for Trump and Carson leading into last night’s debate had the two sitting near 30% and 20%, respectively. As for who won the debate, the majority still favored Trump at over 30%. Carly Fiorina came in a close second at under 30%.
Both Fiorina and Trump took questionable positions that may have been pandering to the “non-intellectual” portions of their supporters. At one point, Trump commented on the issue of mandatory vaccination programs as it relates to autism, stating a desire for the option of parents to more widely space out the administration of those vaccines to their children.
In Fiorina’s case, she cited the now infamous footage from a Planned Parenthood video, which suggests that Planned Parenthood clinics have been profiting off the sale of tissue from aborted fetuses. In a New York Times report, it was stated that the un-edited video shows that Planned Parenthood’s Dr. Deborah Nucatola was instead stating the costs of donation for legal transfer of tissue for research purposes.
With more than a year left before the American people cast their votes, there is plenty of time left for more of these divisive emotional issues to come forth and ample opportunity for the candidates to keep abusing them.
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