Here is a breakdown of four Republican presidential candidates:
(Disclaimer: I have no preference for any of the Democrat or Republican candidates in the current presidential race. I do not like the idea of any of them as president. This article is trying to help people gain an understanding of the attitude of the Republican candidates in this year's presidential race.)
OK — there is a theme for the Republican voter/candidate this year that is rising above most others: Anger. So, for those of you who have not really looked into the Republican side of the presidential election, let me try to give you the very general position of the Republican Party right now. We can talk about how MarcoRubio (recently) dropped out, while Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are all unhappy with the “establishment.”
I will begin with the guy who has been getting the most attention — Trump.
(Another disclaimer: I am not going to bash the guy, but try to give an objective observation of him — the keyword here is "try.")
Trump is great at identifying a problem and giving his opinion on it, but he is often over-the-top and offensive in his delivery. Whatever skills Trump has in “diagnosing” a problem, he lacks them in prescribing a solution (as suggested by the nearly limitless satirical pieces on how the man responds to complex questions). Trump's biggest push is to convince the voters that he will be a strong leader, and will keep America from becoming a “loser” country. Trump is calling for an overhaul of those in charge of the establishment. But enough about Trump, let’s move on to Ted Cruz.
By listening to some of Cruz’s speeches, it looks like he believes that Washington has eroded the foundation of the Republican Party. Cruz’s solution appears to be the most nostalgic of all the discussed candidates. Cruz is relying on public outrage (I'll refer back to the theme of anger here) to fuel the change he proposes (similar to a Reagan-ized America). This, to me, seems like Cruz is relying on appealing to the general anger of the Republican voter.
The only guy among these three that does not believe America is nearing its doom is Marco Rubio.
Rubio’s message says that we are missing out on opportunities for our country's security, both financial and social (by adjusting trade and international relation policies). Rubio’s take is that the world is changing, and we need to adjust; this makes me wonder why he did not just take that broad concept and run with it in the Democratic primary. Sadly, Rubio is not appealing to the general attitude of Republicans (again — anger). So it seems that this is causing some voters to overlook Rubio, because he is not spitting fire and brimstone like the front-running candidates. Perhaps he'd still be in the race if he had appealed to anger of voters.
