Republicans in 2016: Something very different
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 Date: November 8, 2016 |
Winner: Donald Trump (R) Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Gary Johnson (L) • Vice presidential candidates |
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This article covering the 2016 presidential election was written outside the scope of Ballotpedia's encyclopedic coverage and does not fall under our neutrality policy or style guidelines. It is preserved as it was originally written. For our encyclopedic coverage of the 2016 election, click here.
July 17, 2016
By Rich Cohen
Note: This is a five-part series in which Rich Cohen examines the Republican nominee, the party, the convention, and the campaign. He will write a similar series for next week's Democratic convention.
As Republicans assemble in Cleveland, they are preparing to present the nation a radically different type of presidential nominee. Donald Trump offers a combination of biography, ideology, leadership and temperament that is unique in American political history. As public-opinion polls show that a majority of American voters are alienated by politics and worried that the nation is on the wrong course, he styles himself as the opposite of business-as-usual.
“I’m an outsider, people loved me,” Trump boasted on Saturday to supporters in New York City as he recounted his success this year in Republican primaries and introduced his running-mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Typically, his fleeting nod to the need for party unity was accompanied by dismissive references to his earlier opponents. Pence’s support for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary “was more of an endorsement for me,” Trump contended.
Trump has never served a day as a government official, and he has taken issue with many long-standing national GOP principles—including foreign policy, international trade and immigration. During his first election campaign, he has scorned customary political practices, such as advertising and grass-roots organization.
Instead, he has been a creature of the celebrity culture. With his highly-paid experience as a “reality” television entertainer and his larger-than-life personality, Trump has claimed friendship with famous media personalities and mastery of their craft. Earlier, he developed his eponymous real-estate business into one of the nation’s most familiar and lucrative commercial brands.
Republicans have previously nominated presidential candidates who—like Trump--had never sought elected office. They included corporate lawyer Wendell Willkie in 1940, and former Army General and university president Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. When he was nominated in 1980, Ronald Reagan had Trump-like experience as a national television personality before he served as governor. But in contrast to Trump, all three had views about government that were generally compatible with national Republican policies.
By contrast, every Democratic presidential nominee since Woodrow Wilson was reelected a century ago spent most of his professional life in the domain of politics and elected office. Apart from her prospective achievement as the first woman in either party nominated for president, Hillary Clinton fits comfortably in that privileged niche—a point that Trump harshly ridicules.
The GOP convention in Cleveland gives Trump the opportunity to reinforce his unusual background, and to launch the general-election campaign with the case for his election. National and state polls show that he is competitive with Clinton and that he has a real chance for victory. Still, several polls have shown the often revealing result that a sizable majority of respondents expect that Clinton will win, according to a July 14 compilation by Huffington Post.[1]
As his campaign strategy continues to make the election largely about him, plenty of problematic aspects remain that ultimately might raise doubt of whether voters will view Trump as an acceptable choice. The following details of his business and personal practices have been described by Ballotpedia, often based on coverage by other news organizations.
- Trump’s business dealings have been the target of many lawsuits and news reports. Probably the most attention has been drawn by challenges to the credibility of Trump University, including by individuals who claimed they were not provided the business instruction promised.
Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over one of those cases in San Diego, unsealed in May more than 1,000 pages of complaints. Trump, in turn, has harshly criticized Curiel’s handling of the case and called him "a hater," a "Mexican," and "hostile." Curiel is an American who was born in East Chicago, Indiana to Mexican immigrants. Trump also has been prolific in filing or threatening to file scores of his own lawsuits. Often, his litigiousness appears to be part of his business practice and is used to take advantage of opponents.
- Trump’s wealth and personal finances, including his refusal to release his tax returns, have drawn numerous attacks. Trump has responded that he is unable to release his returns while the Internal Revenue Service is auditing him. He has claimed that his net worth exceeds $10 billion, although Bloomberg and Forbes Magazine separately listed it at less than $5 billion.
Trump also has been criticized for having made numerous campaign contributions to politicians with ethical violations. In response, he told an interviewer, “the truth is that, you have to be able to get along with—if you’re gonna be a business person, even in the United States, you wanna get along with all sides because you’re gonna need things from everybody.”
- During the campaign, Trump has clashed with numerous reporters and criticized them as inaccurate or unfair. He attacked Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, in particular, after she questioned him in an August 2015 debate about allegedly demeaning and vulgar comments that Trump had made about women. Kelly had a more cordial exchange with Trump in a May 2016 interview that was broadcast by FOX.
Clinton and her surrogates have attacked Trump for hostile personal and professional dealings with women, in particular.
- See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016: Communications
Many of these charges against Trump likely will draw attention at the Democratic convention. But supporters, family members and other allies likely will continue their efforts to inoculate him by depicting him in more iconic terms that reflect what they view as his distinctive political persona.
Richard E. Cohen is a senior editor at Ballotpedia, and veteran congressional reporter. Among the books that he has written, he is chief author of The 2016 Almanac of American Politics.
See also
- Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
- Republican National Committee
- Republican National Convention, 2016
