Lunatics with money are never ‘mad’, only eccentric. In America, they can also class as Republican presidential candidates. Hence Donald Trump – a barmy billionaire with a mouth bigger than his bank balance – is currently leading the race to be the party’s next nominee. It’s a sad indictment of the American political process. And it disguises how strong American conservatism could be if it only tried harder.
So far, more than a dozen major Republicans have declared their candidacy. Jeb Bush stands out for his establishment support, Scott Walker for his credentials as a conservative governor who took on the unions, Marco Rubio for his charisma and ethnicity… and so on. In a field so incredibly wide, however, polling points are spread thin. So Donald Trump has jumped to the top of the pack even though he only has around 18 per cent support – outpacing more serious, more experienced candidates largely because folks have heard of him.
Trump is famous as a businessman, a TV personality and for having a mess of improbable hair that looks like something laid down and died on his head.
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