Nearly two weeks ago, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump walked onto a stage at a rally in South Carolina and read a statement about Muslims and his need to keep them out of the United States.
Keep them away, he said, until our government officials can figure out “what the hell is going on.”
His call for action went far beyond any of the nonsensical and grandiose comments we’ve grown accustomed to from Trump.
But his call was met with an outbreak of applause and encouraging cheers from his supporters. This anti-foreigner rhetoric comes not long after he mocked a disabled journalist and indicated that Fox News host Megyn Kelly only asked him tough questions because she was menstruating.
These, among a mirage of other ignorant and offensive acts, have kept the wealthy would-be politician in hot water. Yet, he maintains his lead in poll after poll, with more than one-third of GOP voters supporting him. Republican leaders are growing to despise Trump, as he has become the poster child for the party.
Trump, along with other leading Republican presidential candidates, are singlehandedly making it increasingly difficult for Republicans to be seen in a good light. The abundant racist, misogynistic and anti-Islam comments he makes on a daily basis are great fodder for journalists.
But as this plays out on the international stage, the political divide in the United States has widened even more because of Trump and his antics.
Americans often tend to categorize opposing political parties based on the actions of their leading candidates. That’s nothing new. In Portland, and at Grant High School, it sometimes seems impossible to not be sucked into the left-leaning, liberal ideology.
We live in a liberal city, one that supports gay marriage, abortion, and the legalization of marijuana. Living in this Democratic bubble, many are blinded to believe that Portland is the epitome of forward thinking and progressiveness. Democrats still have their fair share of narrow-minded and ever-too-well-intentioned liberals, who feel they are exempt from being able to discriminate.
Many people refuse to look intrinsically at the political issues in our country and instead blame them all on the opposing party.
This is something that’s easy to do, especially when most of the Republican presidential candidates present themselves in a way that epitomizes complaining rather than people who want to be president.
Because of Trump, Republicans won’t have it easy when it comes closer to the time we will select our next president. Instead, each comment he makes drives a bigger wedge between the main parties, even though Republicans have been saying for a while that they want to become more diverse and attract people from different walks of life.
But studies show that they aren’t getting people beyond the usual stereotypical Republican to join the ranks. According to the Pew Research Center’s April 2015 national survey on political party affiliation, 55 percent of white Southerners identify as Republicans, while only 34 percent identify as liberal. When it comes to African Americans, only 11 percent identify as Republican and 80 percent call themselves Democrat.
Another study by Stanford University researchers tested how political bias plays out in every day life. A group of 1,000 racially diverse adults were presented with fictional resumes of high school seniors and were asked to choose which applicants should be given scholarships. There was evidence of race and party affiliation in every example. The results showed while race does matter, with African-American candidates choosing African-American students 73 percent to 27 percent, political bias was stronger with 80 percent of those choosing students who shared similar political beliefs, even when students of the opposite party had better credentials.
Looking back to the 1970s, the parties got along better in Congress. Voters had their views but it seemed that there was a lot less baiting going on. But with people like Trump, there hasn’t been this kind of polarization since McCarthyism in the 1950s.
There has to be room for improvement in this hostile relationship between Democrats and Republicans if our country is going to move ahead and try to get things done. Rather than grandstanding, arguing with reporters and coming up with offensive ways to categorize people who don’t look like him, Trump should try to find a way to stick to the issues.
Xenophobia is a dangerous place to stake your claim. Trump is very good at making people who come from other places be the bogeyman. But it’s tearing apart the fabric of our country. And we’re not sure it’s worth the cost. ◊
Molly Metz contributed to this editorial.
