How far has the Republican Party come? Last week, after winning the state of Indiana with 53 percent of the vote, Donald Trump officially became the presumptive Republicans nominee for the presidency of the United States. His closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, threw in the towel and suspended his campaign after losing the state of Indiana. The governor of Ohio, John Kasich, who had been mathematically disqualified for some time, also withdrew from the electoral contest soon after, leaving the path open for Donald Trump to win the nomination.
Just under a year ago, on June 16, Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president and no one could foresee that he would get this far, let alone win the nomination. After all, the New York businessman began his campaign for president promising to build a wall on the border and “get Mexico to pay for it” since those coming from Mexico, according to Donald Trump- only “bring crime, drugs and are rapists.”
It is also the same Donald Trump who promised to deny entry of all Muslims into the country, who said it’s okay if other countries get nuclear weapons, who has insulted veterans, the disabled, women, and who said you there must be punishment for women who make the difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy. How is it possible for a person who feeds his campaign with hatred, fear, and xenophobia to win the nomination?
Realizing that Donald Trump would be the nominee, the established members of the Republican Party did their best to stop him, knowing he would damage the Republican brand. But it was too little too late. Those same Republicans are the ones who created a political atmosphere based on hatred and racism, largely to President Obama.
Where were these Republicans when Donald Trump insulted our community? Where were these Republicans when Donald Trump questioned the nationality of our president just because he is an African- American?
The media also bears the blame for the misfortune that is a Trump’s nomination as they cover him even when he emitted a sigh. It is true that he was more accessible than the other candidates but there also exist something called balance. Now it’s time to examine things well and not allow him to get away with it, refusing to give details of his policies as he has done so far to the public. But hey, we still have one last hope.
Now it’s up to our candidate Hillary Clinton to defeat Trump. All Republican candidates and the party itself underestimated Donald Trump and slowly, one after another, they all fell to the feet of real estate mogul. That will not happen to Hillary. She is well prepared to battle Trump, on behalf of our community, of our great country, global peace, civility and human decency.
Hillary Clinton has restructured her campaign and is preparing for the general elections after the convention. Although Trump has already started to attack her, according to polls, she would win with 54 percent of the vote if the elections were held today. While Republicans and Trump promise walls to divide us, Hillary and the Democrats offer solutions to knock down the barriers that prevent us from achieving the American dream.
Donald Trump promised he would win the US presidency and we must take it seriously. We have to ask what kind of world we want to live in and then we need to start fighting back against racism and xenophobia and starting fighting for our rights. The best way? Registering and going out to vote in November. It is in our hands.
Original article can be found at The Washington Hispanic.
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