As 2015 comes to a close, the biggest story of the year is unquestionably the meteoric rise and mystifying (to some) staying power of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Despite numerous opinion pieces and analyses devoted to the phenomenon, it appears that neither the permanent political class nor the media elite that prop them up have figured out what is driving his popularity.
It's easy to understand Donald Trump's popularity if you understand the American public. But our politicians and pundits do not understand us. It's hard to know whether observers are being deliberately obscurantist or they legitimately do not see what's happening. Either way, it's time to shoot down some of the oft-repeated tropes about Trump.
Health care, terrorism and jobs topped Americans' concerns in 2015, according to a survey by the Public Religion Research Institute.
The survey reveals that six years after passage of President Barack Obama's signature Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (widely known as Obamacare), 63 percent of Americans still cite health care as one of their top concerns. Terrorism and unemployment trail close behind, with 62 percent and 60 percent naming them as important issues, respectively, according to the nonpartisan research organization based in Washington.
