[American Thinker] As the next presidential election approaches, the leader of the Republican Party, and America, is Donald Trump. In 2015, the Republican Party was dead. There was no clear leader and little enthusiasm even as the end of Barack Obama’s presidency was on the horizon. Republicans suffered convincing losses in the two previous presidential elections, and a Bush versus Clinton rematch reincarnate was plausible for a time. The party’s 2014 midterm election gains were more of a referendum on Barack Obama than an endorsement of the Republican Party. But the key reason those scenarios were short-lived was because of Donald Trump.
While the Democrats, media, and Republican establishment (now referred to as the Uniparty) were busy mocking Trump’s candidacy, he was energizing and awakening a previously dormant base of the electorate. The base, which eventually became known as "the forgotten man," was composed of right-leaning Americans who felt they did not have a champion who was truly fighting for them. Trump was at first a breath of fresh air. But when the shock of his candidacy transitioned into reality, it became clear he was the pro-America candidate Americans had been longing for since Ronald Reagan.