COMMENTARY | MSNBC reports that real estate mogul Donald Trump has endorsed Mitt Romney as his choice for the Republican Party presidential nominee. This decision comes at an important time for both Romney and his rival Newt Gingrich. As a Republican voter, here is how I feel about Trump endorsing Romney, and how this could hurt Romney at the end of the day.
I personally feel that this endorsement from Trump is another sign that Romney is not really the best choice for the Republican Party. Trump is a real estate mogul with a lot of money, and he has previous connections to the Democratic Party. Seeing Trump endorse Romney makes me think that Romney is more liberal than what a conservative Republican voter would think at first glance. The endorsement could backfire from the more conservative base in the Republican Party because Trump is not seen as a guy concerned about the state of the middle class, and he has never shown he believes in fiscally conservative policies.
Romney could be very hurt by this endorsement because in an ABC News and Washington Post poll from December, Trump only had a 40 percent favorability rating. This means that there is likely going to be voters that will vote for another Republican candidate just based on his endorsement of Romney alone. The poll also shows that voters might also not feel that Trump is truly a Republican or conservative, and might just think Trump is in politics to increase his ratings on television. I personally think Trump knows nothing about politics and is just looking for a way to stay relevant. Romney will likely see some swing voters decide to vote in another direction because of the endorsement from Trump, and other voters might not care either way. In reality, an endorsement should not sway a voter one way or another, because voters should really be looking at where candidates stand on important issues.
Trump is also famously known for pressing the issue about President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, which might come back to haunt anyone associated with Trump. The fact that Trump pressed the issue so hard, could make Republican voters run away from Romney, and make them think that Romney feels the same way about the birth certificate. A lot of people in the Republican Party have denounced critics of the birth certificate, and see it as a sideshow to the real issues this country is facing. The fact that Trump questioned Obama’s citizenship for so long, and had created such a media firestorm over it, will make Republican voters run away from Romney for good. Since Trump did spend so much time on the birth certificate issue, it can be seen as Trump not really caring about the important issues, such as the economy or jobs, which are a big factor in the upcoming elections.
Myself, Personal Opinion
Michael O’Brien, “Trump backs Romney: ‘He’s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen’”, MSNBC