So far just about every approach possible to try and stop Trump’s rise has been tried, and all have failed.
There is a reason for that.
Start with the overall American political environment. The fact that both Sanders and Trump have done well against establishment candidates tells you that at a minimum there is a good degree of unhappiness with the status quo and with the elites who have been running things (whether you like the term elites or not).
In general most Americans do not pay much attention to politics in general and far fewer pay attention to policy discussions. Let’s face it most potential voters are low information voters. Now usually many of them do not vote (the US having an abysmal voter turnout rate), but in the entire potential voting pool there are tons of low info folks available to a demagogue. But first they have to tune in and then hear his message … and it better not be complicated.
The interesting thing about Sanders and Trump is that both have been bringing in lots of people who usually do not vote. They have been dipping into the pool and finding lots of new supporters.
Now let’s go ahead and assume Trump faces Clinton in November. Now folks on this site will obviously feel that Clinton should be able to win. I am not so sure.
Watch the old footage of Trump form almost 30 years ago below. It should be enough to scare you. The man is not stupid, and he knows how to manipulate people.
So back to the important question. How do you stop him?
Unfortunately it may already be too late. He has energized lots of folks from the pool and lots of them like him, or at least his simple simple message.
The only way I can see to beat him is to turn off his megaphone. That means no more mention of him on this site, no more protesting at his events (that is manna from heaven for him, ensuring media coverage at every rally), no more media coverage (time for the elites to call in their influencing chips with the media moguls.) It is only by taking him out of the headlines that the low info voters can be put back to sleep.
The ongoing freak out is the absolute best thing that Trump could hope for. He must be laughing his head off. He absolutely loves having protesters show up.
It will still not be easy, even with a media “blackout”. The average Joe’s perception of how things are going is not improving. Trump’s appeal gives him hope. So the sooner he gets knocked off the front page the better. Or in internet language we need to stop feeding the troll.