By Matthew Pertz, Opinion Editor
Disclaimer: This article does not reflect my personal opinions; rather, it is meant to show undecided voters some of Trump’s positive policies that have been lost in a negative campaign
Before June of last year, the 2016 presidential election was expected to be uneventful and dry. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was heir apparent to the White House as she prepared to run against Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the Republican establishment’s favorite son.
But everything changed when New York’s most famous real estate magnate threw his hat into the ring. Donald Trump dominated the Republican primaries, shattering the record for most votes won by earning the support of over 14 million people.
The majority of his supporters don’t fall into a “basket of deplorables” but instead into a basket of frustrateds. They despise the corruption and deception that is synonymous with Washington politics and desperately want a change to the status quo — that change is a big city real estate broker.
This is the same movement that united behind then-Sen. Obama’s message of hope and change in 2008 but soon fell away after realizing Obama’s presidency contained the same broken promises and halfhearted deals as its predecessors.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Donald Trump dominated the Republican primaries, shattering the record for most votes won by earning the support of over 14 million people.[/perfectpullquote]
Within the past two weeks, Trump’s catchphrase has been “Drain the swamp” as he proposes term limits for members of Congress. Currently, legislators can serve in Washington for as long as they can keep winning elections. Trump has proposed a six-year limit for House members and 12-year limit for Senators, respectively equivalent to winning three and two elections. This forces lawmakers to have a career outside of politics and, coupled with Trump’s theoretical ban on lobbyists, quickly rids Washington D.C. of corruption.
The business icon also plans to rewrite current laws to better promote American entrepreneurship. He proposes having tax breaks for every American, eliminating trade deals that ship jobs overseas and slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15. All of these ideas place more money in the hands of American consumers and businesses.
I can’t pretend to defend Trump’s past words and actions, and neither do many Trump supporters. His words on the Access Hollywood bus were sexual assault, plain and simple.
But many of these supporters believe that Trump’s words don’t compare to Clinton’s actions.
“Trump may not be perfect, but he sure as heck won’t be as bad of a catastrophe as Hillary Clinton,” freshman Johnny Otley said.
Electing Donald Trump might be the only way to rid our government of its consistent corruption and put American business first once again.
