Louis Capozzi | Donald's trump cards

Citizen Capozzi | Campus supporters reflect sources of the billionaire’s national political success.

By Louis Capozzi 01/13/16 11:34pm

Donald Trump is not stupid. Penn students frequently dismiss him because he says stupid things, but we shouldn’t underestimate the GOP frontrunner.

As Trump recently told told a raucous crowd in South Carolina, “We have to be smart. We don’t necessarily have to be politically correct. If we can, that’s fine. But we don’t have time for it. I went to an Ivy League School. I can be more politically correct than any guy in Washington. Believe me. I’m smarter than they are.”

Yet many in the Penn community, including a recent Daily Pennsylvanian guest columnist, dismiss Trump because he’s not politically correct. This common position can be summarized as follows: Trump says offensive and racist things, therefore he is a bigot, and so he’s not a legitimate candidate. As many red-faced pundits are starting to admit, many have underestimated the blustering billionaire.

On campus, Trump’s offensive rhetoric towards Hispanics, veterans, Muslims, and women has effectively prevented him from gaining significant support at Penn. While there was a Penn for Trumporganization on campus, Wharton freshman Patrick Lobo disbanded the group after Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Lobo said, “After the way Trump handled his comments on Muslims, I can’t publicly align myself with him anymore.”

Others are less bothered, like Wharton freshman Nile Nwogu who said, “a lot of my friends say he hates minorities, but I don’t think it’s true. When I watch his interviews, he sounds like an honest person trying to make a difference rather than always being politically correct.”

While Trump’s already limited support on campus has dwindled, he continues to grow stronger nationally. The most recent national polling average shows Trump with a fourteen-point lead even though he only just started spending money on advertisements.

Since Trump is projected to stick around, as I argued last September, we should take his status as the Republican frontrunner seriously. It’s time to move beyond the wishful thinking that Trump is not a legitimate candidate because he says offensive things. Even if you just want to more effectively oppose him, it’s necessary to consider the factors that make Trump appealing.

First, Trump’s platform is surprisingly nuanced and can appeal to non-traditional Republican constituencies. For example, Trump might be the most pro-LGBT Republican currently running. As College freshman and hesitant Trump supporter Christian Petrillook argued, “When Kim Davis refused to allow gay marriages in Kentucky, Trump called her out and said she needs to enforce the law.” Further, Nwogu praised Trump’s tax plan for “drastically lowering the tax rate for poorer people and addressing the issue of corporate inversions.”

As another example, despite his rhetoricabout “bombing the shit out of ISIL” and killing enemy families, Trump has repeatedly denounced regime change in the Middle East, has suggested that the Russians should fight ISIL and hinted that he won’t need to use the military.

Finally, consider that Trump has been an outspoken supporter of affirmative action. None of this surprises Lobo, who said, “I like that Trump is moderate; he used to align with the Democratic Party. I felt that he was middle-of-the-road if you got past his crazy comments and actually looked at his policies.”

Another sourceof appeal for Trump is that he’s partly self-funding his campaign, fueling the perception that he can’t be bought. Indeed, Trump has refused to employ a super PAC and ordered one operating in his name to return the money it had raised from donors. According to Petrillo, “Trump is an outsider in the political system; he’s doing his campaign for the benefit of the country, not to make donors happy or appoint people that gave him a lot of money.”

Perhaps the greatest reason for Trump’s appeal is precisely what hurts him on Penn’s campus: his refusal to be politically correct. Recent polling shows that over 70 percent of Americans think political correctness is a problem. According to Lobo, “his refusal to be politically correct is one of my favorite things about Trump. I can’t stand the PC culture that’s evolving, especially at Penn. People are being yelled at for Halloween costumes!” Petrillo agreed, saying, “People hate political correctness in my Philadelphia neighborhood; his discarding of political correctness is one of the main reasons for my support. I think political correctness is destroying the fabric of our country.”

I still don’t support Donald Trump, but I do take him seriously. For all those who assume Hillary Clinton will crush him in the general election, consider at least one recent poll that suggests otherwise. If we don’t take Trump seriously now, we may be forced to deal with him for at least four more years. No one will be dismissing him then.

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