Trump’s race to the White House

Half-Assed: Rediscovering the joys of classical literature

Earlier this week, we were all introduced to the course catalogue for the upcoming fall semester. Typical reactions ranged from euphoria to apathy to disappointment to murderous rage. Essentially, the usual. For many of us, course registration is a pretty stressful time. It is one of those few, distillable, landmark moments where we actually have to contemplate and direct the appropriate subsequent steps in our education. Nearly all of us are concerned with choosing classes that will assist in the completion or unearthing of prospective majors. Some of us are struggling to remember why we chose a certain major to begin with; others are preparing to mutiny against the departments in which they are currently housed; and still others, somehow, are struggling to fulfill the tiny number of unobtrusive distribution requirements that Bowdoin mandates.

Half-Assed: President Mills should also be Professor Mills

Dear President Mills, My name is Judah Isseroff and I am a junior at Bowdoin. In my two years here, I've been able to watch you from a distance. On nice days in the autumn and spring, it has been rare to not see you strolling the grounds of the picturesque Bowdoin Quad, asking questions and doling out nods and smiles.

Half-Assed

Trump’s race to the White House

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

Judah Isseroff

Columnist

April 29, 2011

While election season seems far off, possible Republican challengers to President Barack Obama have already begun posturing for the 2012 election. President Obama's term in office has been disastrous for the economy. His administration has not effectively lowered unemployment and has contributed to the explosion of the national deficit. The stimulus bill and Obamacare have both been tremendous failures, costing far too much and distancing America from its core free market principles. At this point, I have found it essentially impossible to disagree with the Republicans on these points. It's indisputable; Obama needs to go.

Electoral history shows that unseating Obama will be seriously difficult. One-term presidents are rare birds. Jimmy Carter was, well...Jimmy Carter, and had to deal with the stagflation caused by the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s. George Bush had to deal with a three-candidate race and the political force of Bill Clinton. He also said, "Read my lips: no new taxes," and then proceeded to raise taxes.

Probably the most salient piece of evidence supporting the unlikelihood of a one-term President is George Bush II. Even he was elected twice.

All this is to say that the Republican nominee for the presidency will have to be of unprecedented quality. He (or she) will need to have sufficient political talent to unseat the greatest fundraiser of all time (Obama). This nominee must have experience, he must be tenacious, and he must be compelling.

Donald Trump is the best man for this difficult job.

For starters, Trump is incredibly compelling. Seemingly more than half of the recent entries on CNN's political blog (The Political Ticker) have dealt with comments made by or about Trump. He has pressed the President on hard issues, like the place of Obama's birth. In fact, just recently Obama at long last released his long-form birth certificate. This finally ended the birther conspiracy that has raged for the last number of years. Trump has righteously claimed the credit for forcing the president to release his birth certificate, and he has bravely pledged to vet the certificate himself in order to ensure its authenticity.

Trump is finding supporters in the ranks of America's most respected men. For instance, Reverend Franklin Graham has attested to Trump's allure as a candidate. According to CNN, Graham said of Trump, "the more you listen to him, the more you say to yourself, 'You know, maybe the guy's right.'" If nothing else, Reverend Graham validly testifies to the soothing quality of Trump's voice. I eagerly anticipate the day when Chinese leaders commit to end human rights abuses and the Palestinians and Israelis finally make up and hug—all because they listened to Trump for a sufficiently lengthy period of time.

A bit of background: Graham is well known for calling into question Obama's profession of the Christian faith. He is also famous for calling Islam "a very evil and wicked religion" (according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). In other words, a Graham endorsement assures us of Trump's commitment to the Christian faith despite the fact that Trump has had five children by three women and is currently married to a woman 24 years his junior.

Another important figure who has commented positively on the possibility of a Donald Trump run for the White House is former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. In an interview with the Washington Times, Giuliani commented on how Trump is "saying things that the American people need to hear...about being proud of America and not apologizing for America." It is especially gratifying to hear that America will be receptive to Trump from a man whose own run for the Republican nomination was derailed because he deemed campaigning in any state besides Florida a waste of his time.

Without a doubt, Trump provides the flair, the principles and the business savvy needed to unseat Obama. Moreover, all of us should be grateful that the media has brought Trump to our attention by broadcasting nearly everything the man says throughout the course of each day.

To conclude, I am confident that Trump, a man who has endured multiple billion-dollar bankruptcies, will be able to steer America to a future of economic prosperity. After all, he is rich.

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