Above 80 percent. Donald Trump has an approval rating above 80 percent among the GOP and there are Republicans still running against him the primaries. They don’t have much a shot. Trump, who before the news of an impeachment inquiry, saw a rise in his approval rating, looks to be a sure bet to respresent the GOP in 2020. So who are these candidates spending time and money running against an incumbent president who’s popular among his party? They just debated this past week, but before we can analyze how that went and what, if any impact it will have in the upcoming election, let’s meet one of these so-called candidates for the upcoming primary.
“We can’t take four more years of Donald Trump, and that’s why I’m running for President. It won’t be easy, but bravery is never easy. Together, we can do it.” Joe Walsh tweeted. Walsh, conservative talk radio host and former Illinois congressman, is challenging Trump for the nomination. After he was elected to congress in a year which was favorable for Republicans, Walsh served for one term before losing his re-election bid. After that, he became a talk show host. No stranger to controversies, he claimed that he sometimes went “over the line.” He was most likely referring to the controversy in which he said that he would grab his musket if Clinton had won in 2016 and after five police officers were shot in Dallas, he said “This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.”
Walsh has said that if he was president, he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, better known as ObamaCare. He stated that, “We cannot, as a nation, afford to pay for, in essence, government-run health care for everybody.” He’s in favor of a border wall, but in contrast to what he claims Trump has done by making humanitarian causes worse, he says he would not separate families. He’s in favor of free trade and criticized the President’s trade war with China claiming that everyone “loses in a trade war” and that it is devastating for our farmers. On the issue of Climate Change, Walsh believes that the rising temperature of the earth is concerning and that the Republican Party needs to do more to address the problem, although he has tweeted skepticism about the issue in the past. On social issues, he’s in favor same-sex marriage, as well as saying “anybody who can qualify to serve in the military — gay, straight or transgender — should be able to serve.”
Walsh and others like him are a long shot. Even more so now that Nevada, South Carolina, and Kansas canceled the primaries in their states. But even if they hadn’t, Trump would not be losing any sleep in the White House worried about a republican challenger beating him. But that doesn’t mean he can’t have an effect on the race. Primary challengers can expose weaknesses in their opponents and bring up dirt that can be used in a general election. They can highlight parts of the party in which their opponent, in this case, Trump, has not been able to satisfy and provide insight for how a Democrat next year can try to win them over. Unless a miracle occurs, Walsh is not going to win, but it will be interesting to see how his campaign affects the all-important election next year.
This was a good topic to write on, given that you give some attention to this story which may have been forgotten by your audience. You summarize Walsh’s motives and proposals well. I also like the aesthetic contributions made by the pictures you included. However, I think it might’ve been a good idea to mention other primary challengers of Trump’s.
Might do that in some future articles, good idea.
This was really interesting. I have been wondering lately if any other republican was even going to run against Trump. I know that there are a lot of republicans who don’t like Trump, so it will be interesting to see how the primaries turn out. Good article.
It seems like Walsh would be a decent candidate based on his view on certain policies, but he realistically doesn’t have a chance against just because of his current approval rating. Walsh is most likely running just to get his name out there further and build his chance for a future presidential election.
Definitely, he knows deep down that his chances are slim, but he’ll probably use his new-found fame to write a book or get on TV to further his career.
Very informative, I thought it was interesting to know more about the candidates in depth. I also thought it was well written and aesthetically appealing. I like the change of pace from your other topics.