Thus far, the 2016 presidential election has been the most opulent and luxurious race for the White House in recent memory. The primary reason for this has been the candidacy of Donald J. Trump. The billionaire’s no-holds-barred sound bites and — oddly enough — every-man attitude have rallied many in both the middle and the right to his cause.
But the reason Trump is doing so well is not what you might think. It’s certainly not his policy proposals — thus far, his policy points have been little more than words and phrases that you can put on a bumper sticker.
Trump’s ascendancy is not due to his Republican debate performance. Although he received one of the highest debate favorable ratings, he also received the overwhelmingly highest negative ratings as well. And it’s not Trump’s rhetoric either; I doubt anyone would want to have a man with the rhetorical flare of a spoiled six-year-old as president. Trump is a man who calls anyone who opposes him "stupid" and exacts revenge after another presidential contender makes a petty comment against his fragile ego (read: giving out fellow Republican presidential nominee Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number).
Trump is leading in the polls solely due to the sheer amount of media coverage being allotted to him. Gov. Mike Huckabee was right when he said, "You give me 10 times the coverage that any other candidate gets, and I’ll be leading." For those of you engulfed in "24-hour Trump Presidential Coverage 2016," I’ll bet that you didn’t even know that Huckabee is also running for president. The media coverage dedicated to Trump has been staggering. According to The Guardian, Trump leads print media coverage, having been mentioned in 19.6 percent of newspaper articles pertaining to the GOP field. Keep in mind, Trump is one of more than 15 candidates running for president on the Republican ticket. As for television, Trump gets 42.8 percent of the on-air mentions. Trump’s media coverage spanning from March to July of this year surpassed Hillary Clinton’s overall coverage.
The sheer volume of Trump coverage helps the billionaire by consolidating conservative support. Anytime a conservative media darling emerges, the New York Times editorial board and liberal political outlets go out of their way to slam them. In response, conservative media such as Fox News predictably come to the rescue of the besieged right-winger. This happened with Sarah Palin and is currently happening with Trump.
But can you really blame the media for focusing so much on Trump? He is, of course, a flamboyant self-promoter that will say anything that gets him coverage. The recent "anchor baby" fiasco is getting him even more press attention. Trump will probably survive yet another gaffe that would have sunk anybody else’s chance at winning the Oval Office.
With that said, I do blame the media. Paradoxically, the media devotes tons of column space and airtime to Trump, yet marvels at the fact that he is doing so well. The media coverage is directly correlated to Trump’s lead in the polls. If Huckabee had half as much airtime as Trump currently does, Huck’s numbers would undoubtedly surge. In a field of more than 15 candidates, media coverage can make or break a candidate’s campaign. By devoting so much time to Trump, an impressive governor of Ohio is not being mentioned. One of Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women is hardly being considered. A former governor of Florida who was instrumental in the charter school revolution is lagging behind due to Trump coverage.
I blame myself as well. I have devoted a whole article here discussing the Trump phenomena; is there any way for me to criticize Trump coverage without actively contributing to it? Perhaps. However, getting sucked into the Trump black hole is all too easy. This is why the media needs to be more balanced in its approach to the 2016 race. The stakes are too high for one man to cast his huge, luxurious and most golden shadow over the presidential contest. And, given these high stakes, the media needs to be held accountable for helping him in dominating the field.
Michael Beato is a UF political science senior. His column appears on Mondays.
