OPINION:
Donald Trump was made for millennials.
The billionaire businessman is blunt. He’s brash. He’s social-media savvy.
And he’s not asking for a single dime of our money — not even the relatively low-dollar contribution of $10 that Gov. Scott Walker is currently seeking.
Because here’s the thing: $10 may not sound like a lot. But to a student working two jobs and preparing for years of student loan payments, $10 may not even be available for tonight’s dinner, let alone to donate to a presidential primary campaign.
“As a young woman entering the workforce, donating to a political campaign is simply not an option for me right now,” said Megan Wise, a recent college graduate and first grade teacher at Meigs Primary School in Ohio.
And that’s why Mr. Trump, with his self-financed campaign, is so appealing to young voters.
“I think it is great that Trump is financing his own campaign. He hasn’t been holding back and young Americans love it, ” said 25-year-old Wise, who is in the process of paying back graduate school loans that she took out to pursue her Masters Degree in Education Leadership and School Administration.
There is currently no limit on how much a candidate can donate to his own campaign. Thus, out of Mr. Trump’s approximate $1.9 million in campaign funds, $1.8 million was contributed to the campaign by Mr. Trump himself.
He is not functioning under pressure from big donors to promote certain messages or take sides on issues that donors feel will be most beneficial to them.
He hasn’t been holding his tongue at all and has taken much heat over many of his comments, including those on illegal immigration, which is serious problem yet to be properly dealt with in the U.S.
Despite criticism, however, Mr. Trump continues to rise in the polls — a climb that at least in part may be due to support from millennial-aged voters, seventy percent of whom have a positive view of The Donald.
A key reason? Jobs.
Mr. Trump has made jobs the centerpiece of his campaign, even boasting he’ll be the “best jobs President that God ever created.” That’s what younger voters so desperately want and need. If those younger voters believe he will deliver those jobs, God help the rest of the GOP field.
Madison Gesiotto is a staff editor for the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.
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