"Trump’s supporters seem to be immune to criticism of their candidate ..."

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COMMENTS: 
*  Well, golllleey!  You don't suppose Trump actually is the face and persona of the real Republican Party as it exists right now (and at various times since the Nixon Administration)?  All we need now is the reincarnation of Spiro Agnew to run as VP and we're all set for another Republican Death Star implosion.  
*  Cretins like Beck, Coulter, Limbaugh and the Faux news network help keep the base riled up and ill informed.
*  From the party that ended slavery in America to the party of Donald Trump in a mere 150 years; the story of the Republican Party is the saddest story in political history.
*  Personally, I'm upset that so many people are so easily fooled by a bigoted narcissist with fascistic tendencies and no political experience whatsoever.
*  ... The most dangerous enemy America has is not Islamic extremists. It's Trump, and his fan club. They are playing right into the terrorists' hands- doing EXACTLY what they want. Not only are we being turned against each other; Trump and his Trump-suckers are actively signing up tens of thousands of newly radicalized jihidists every day. Way to go, Trump! Way to go, Trump-suckers! 
*   One of the best summations of the entire Trump "phenomenon" I have read. Think you are spot on. It's almost like some sort of grand psychological or social experiment. What happens if you take a portion of the populace who are already somewhat bigoted and of average or below intelligence and spend a decade filling their mind with exaggerations, fabrications, and conspiracy theories?  Do it to the point that they are actually sharing memes on social media that the President is secretly a Muslim, wants to make Sharia Law the law of the land, is bringing in refugees to create his own army, wants to take over Texas, plans on confiscating everyone's guns, had Seal Team 6 killed because they knew too much, wants police to be killed, and on and on and on.  Then, put a charismatic man before them who has absolutely no qualifications to be President and no policies to speak of, but can yell slogans about making America great again and actions that he would take that there is no chance in the world of him ever being able to implement.  Suddenly all of those people have someone to rally behind, but as you said, it's almost as though they aren't seeing the real man. I heard one Trump supporter who was being interviewed describe him as "humble." Seriously? He might be the least humble person I have ever heard. Another described him as "honest." This is the man who half the stuff that comes out of his mouth is totally made up. I'm starting to think there are two Donald Trumps, the one normal people see and the one in the minds of those who have been part of the experiment.    ...................................................................................................................................................................
They’re eating this crap right up: Donald Trump is more popular with Republicans than ever

Depressing new poll results find The Donald's Muslim ban is hugely popular with his party's bigoted base

By Kali Holloway, December 12, 2015

Racists and xenophobes rejoice! Donald Trump is now polling stronger than ever, widening his lead even further over his Republican competitors for the presidential nomination. That’s according to a new poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS, which found that Trump is the top pick for 35 percent of Republicans around the country. That’s way ahead of Ted Cruz, at just 16 percent, and Ben Carson, at 13 percent.

Business Insider notes that the survey was conducted just ahead of Trump’s statement on Monday that Muslim immigration to the United States should be halted “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

But other polls conducted after Trump’s Islamophobic remarks show his anti-Muslim sentiments are likely to help him with his base. Business Insider cites a Bloomberg Politics/Purple Strategies PulsePoll which finds nearly two-thirds of likely Republican primary voters are in favor of Trump’s proposed Muslim ban. A Fox News survey of South Carolina Republicans found an 8 percent increase in support for Trump following those comments.

Trump’s supporters seem to be immune to criticism of their candidate, the Washington Post reported, after focus group participants remained unmoved by a litany of possible attack ads.

While Trump’s support is expanding among Republicans, some party adherents expressed fear about the candidate’s potential to actually become president. Per the New York Times:

While Republican voters were most likely to say they were excited (24 percent) or optimistic (41 percent), a full one-third of Republicans say they are concerned or scared about Mr. Trump. [Hillary] Clinton’s base views her potential presidency more favorably than does Mr. Trump’s. Twenty-two percent of Democratic voters are excited and 54 percent are optimistic, while only 23 percent said they were concerned or scared.

The results of the poll in its entirety were released Thursday evening.
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