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What is going on with the Republican campaign and the headlines?

Billionaire Donald Trump seeks to be GOP nomination
Billionaire Donald Trump seeks to be GOP nomination

Much has been stirring in the media on what to make of the presidential race and the GOP candidates.

This presidential election cycle seems to feel somewhat strange. In this race, so many calamities have been made over the Republican candidates that it has been increasingly harder to find out about the individual candidates themselves and their real qualifications.

There is always something bizarre happening in the headlines regarding the Republican primary nominees and their campaign trail.  Donald Trump is the target for some bombastic statement, Carly Fiorina is being discussed as the businesswoman and Jeb Bush is of course always the brother of George W. Bush and the son of George H. W. Bush, senior.

Case in point: Ben Carson Defends Claim That Holocaust Could Have Been Prevented If Jews Had Guns (TIME).

This article discussed important topics like Carson’s stance on U.S. gun control and links it back to his recently-published book, A Perfect Union, where he talks about Nazi gun control. It does not talk about his concrete qualifications as a presidential candidate.

Debating gun control policies and the eradication of the right to bear arms can be something of a moot point. The right to bear arms is a constitutional right, and the likelihood of its removal is incredibly low. This is because the United States is a country of tradition. In 239 years, the U.S. Constitution has never radically changed, only amended 17 times. The constitution of France has completely changed 15 times in a period of about 175 years.

There were more pressing issues that TIME Magazine could have discussed with Ben Carson.  

So many weightless talking points are being overly-publicized that the real meat of the issue is being lost. Most trending articles from prime media organizations are discussing what the polls are saying, what candidates are falling behind, and who is in the lead now. It has become tremendously daunting to find a valid argument or critique on who is the best candidate in this presidential race and why.

This primary presidential race is becoming a disarray of what is going on and when. To be frank, a great sum these headlines sound something like a horse race.

In a Google news search for “Republican Presidential Race,” some of the top headlines in recent days have been, Poll: Donald Trump still leads, Ben Carson in second (CBS News); As Rand Paul stalls, Ted Cruz seeks to pick up support among libertarians (Washington Post); Today in Politics: Republican Candidates Risk Falling Into a House Divide (New York Times).

These are sensationalized debates and arguments. They are distracting to the goal of this primary Presidential race. A Presidential candidate will be nominated in March of next year.

The majority of articles should be written regarding the observation of the candidate’s quality. How they fare as a potential president. It should not be about the overarching observation of the Republican primary race. The GOP candidates themselves are most important in this discussion, not the polls explaining who is in the lead with the current vote or when a potential candidate will drop out, or talking about a moot point topic.

“There is a lot about these candidates that we should know,” said Erick Erickson, writer of RedState and as seen on Fox News, during a meet and greet at Mercer University on Oct. 20. Erickson elaborated on the misguided information given when media outlets report on trending GOP polls.

The obsession with who’s on top and what might happen is inhibiting progress for the search for a good quality candidate. It seems that the focus has gone astray in finding this next Republican Presidential nominee.

Well, let’s discuss the polls: In a recent CBS News poll released for Sunday, Oct. 11, Republican primary voters showed a possible weak link in how they are electing this next candidate.

Among the most important candidate qualities for deciding the primary vote, Republicans said that they are honesty and trustworthiness (39%), that the candidate is a strong leader (36%) and that the candidate cares about “people like me” (13%). At the bottom, the poll ranked has the right experience (8%) and can win the general election (2%) as less important qualities.

While honesty and trustworthiness is an understandable deciding factor, it is striking to see that level of experience and ability to win are qualities favored at the bottom. All five areas are significant, but why is it that the candidate’s qualifications and ability to win the presidency the least important elements? This may explain the hysteria among the headlines.

In any good presidential race, candidates need to be looked at as potential employees. The voters are the employer. The obvious search is for the best presidential candidate.

During a hiring process the first point of interest is the candidate’s experience. However, according to the recent CBS News poll, experience is one of the least important, polling at 8 percent. As the hiring process continues, it then becomes a major point to make sure that the potential employee can do an excellent job at their position. The question asks, can this person win and achieve the important goals of this role? Yet, Republican primary voters find whether or not their candidate can win this presidential election the least important factor, polling at only 2 percent. The candidate needs to be able to win if they are going to be the next president.

However it may be, it is some outlandish claim or headline that is swamping the media. Only a few good articles discussing the employability of the Republican candidate are at the forefront of the media circuit. If a true and honest qualified candidate is going to make it through the primary election for the GOP, new direction must be made on the focus of this presidential primary race. It is not the race itself that distinguishes a good candidate, but the critical observation of the candidate that will identify the correct one.  


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