“A neurosurgeon, a billionaire and a former CEO run for president…”
While it sounds like the start of a bad joke (and I’m still waiting for the punch line), it’s the reality of the 2016 Republican presidential race. But jokes are usually rooted in societal truths and the strange truth is that a neurosurgeon, a billionaire and a former CEO are among the most well-liked Republican presidential candidates.
Ben Carson, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina have amassed the majority of support in GOP primary polls – the three Republican candidates who have never held political office, ironic for a party that traditionally rallies around established politicians. According to a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, an overwhelming 77 percent of registered Republican voters indicated that they prefer an outsider candidate who will change how things are done rather than someone with experience in Washington.
That American voters would no longer trust people who have dedicated their entire lives to politics to run this country is a little absurd, regardless of whether or not their personal beliefs align with that of the politician. Granted, of course, that simply because someone is involved in politics doesn’t mean that they should arbitrarily be allowed to hold any kind of office. But politics, especially in the United States, is a delicate balance of aggressiveness, compromise and carefully crafted showmanship that not everyone is cut out for.
A Pew Research Center study discovered that 65 percent of GOP voters prefer new ideas to experience. Yet even if an “outsider” candidate potentially had the solution to all of America’s problems, how would they be able to navigate, let alone initiate change, in the labyrinth of divisiveness that is Washington with no practical experience? Carson can’t surgically alter the minds of members of Congress who disagree with him; Trump can’t fire whomever he wants whenever he wants; Fiorina can’t create a merger between competing interests.
But, at the same time, this anti-establishment shift among voters was seemingly inevitable. It’s understandable that in light of the past several years of political chaos, voters have become disenchanted with the American political system and politicians as a whole. Since the days of Camelot and President Kennedy in the 1960s, public trust in the government has steadily declined, ultimately reaching historic lows in the 2010s.
Even though this political cynicism can be considered circumstantial, varying based on the state of the economy and international politics, it simultaneously offers insight into the psyche of the average American voter. In our Northwestern bubble, it often seems that everyone is invested in politics to some degree, whether that’s through affiliation with a party, support for certain candidates or keeping up with the news – but, in many ways, it’s all for show.
Most Northwestern students would agree that voting and staying informed is essential. It is part of doing our civic duty, the importance of which has been taught to us since our first lesson on the Founding Fathers in elementary school. But our civic duty is more than just joining a Facebook event for a local political rally, having the latest political debate playing on the television or even jumping on Northwestern’s liberal bandwagon. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those activities, they are all futile attempts to disguise the political apathy beneath the façade of a smart college-educated student and informed American citizen.
The Institute of Politics at Harvard University found that the belief that “political involvement rarely has any tangible results” has steadily increased as trust in political institutions has suffered, particularly among 18- to 29-year olds. This dispassionate attitude toward politics is echoed in often-heard laments that politicians aren’t genuine, that politics are paralyzed by partisanship, that "my" beliefs don’t align with that of elected officials or simply that one vote won’t really make a difference.
So Carson, Trump and Fiorina can be applauded for making a name for themselves on the political stage – they’ve been able to play the politics game and keep up with (and exceed) seasoned politicians in public polls. But, it’s voter apathy, particularly among young, college-aged students, that has paved the way for their success. Having been disillusioned by the past, we’re so preoccupied with maintaining an appearance of being “in-the-know” that most of us haven’t spent time to really understand the intricacies of the presidential campaigns and politics. So blind by their ignorance, most of America mistakenly believes that someone with no political experience can lead a country, influence international diplomacy and command the armed forces. But being president of the United States is very different from being a gifted surgeon, a real estate mogul or a technology executive and being an informed citizen is more than just surface-level.
If American voters’ perspectives don’t change, if we don’t take the initiative to be informed citizens, we become pawns in this political game and there’d be a very real possibility that a neurosurgeon, a billionaire or former CEO could become the next president of the United States. And that joke would be on us.