Blog 9: Agenda Setting

Donald Trump was a candidate within the Republican Party that was extremely controversial during the early stages of the race. It was confusing to many within the party if he was a true conservative that held those ideals and some of his recent actions in office are bringing those qualms to the surface.

Trump made many blanketed promises during the campaign that made him an attractive candidate to many conservatives that wanted change in DC. However, Trump has promised and said things that he wishes to do that he has fallen short of in the current time.

One of Trumps huge campaign draws was his immigration policy. Trump wanted a wall but there has not been much movement on that issue. There were also promises of repealing Obama Care on his first day in office, but rather than getting rid of it Trump prolong its existence. Trump also exclaimed that he would become better acquainted with the Russian president Vladmir Putin, this is not currently the status of the tense relationship we currently hold.

Trump comparatively speaking to his other running mates in the 2016 republican primary were mostly compatible on issues. I chose to contrast Trump and his best friend (jk) Jeb Bush. Trump and Bush sparred with each other during the campaign. Some glaring differences in their platforms were that Jeb refused to sign a pledge to oppose all tax increases, which was not taken well by conservatives. He also is a big proponent of the common core, which is an education system that is highly contested among the Republican Party. I think these two candidates differed on some aspects of their platforms because Jeb was pinned as someone who was more moderate and Trump really geared his campaign to those who were on the far right. I think Trump tried to spark interest in voters by spewing rhetoric that was charged and at some times intolerant of others.

Currently the top issues being discussed in the news are about foreign defense, healthcare, and the economy. These issues are what is effecting the country at this time which causes them to be top news stories, but they are also stories that are being set by the media. The media sets the agenda and frames what the public talks about. Most of the media is run by a small handful of people, with so much of the viewing material being controlled by so few it really causes a lot of the material to be framed in a way that doesn’t conflict with the fortune 500 companies or the special interest groups that have ‘skin in the game’.  

Trump sparked a lot of interest on the campaign trail. He said some things that really drove home the idea of his conservative values but his past actions echoed different leftist ideals. The American public trusted him with the presidency to do things that they wanted accomplished while he is in office and that is yet to be seen. I am personally still confused as to what his platform is and it seems that his time in office will be quite unpredictable.

http://www.cbsnews.com/media/jeb-bush-what-does-he-stand-for/4/

https://web.archive.org/web/20161101083815/https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/education/

https://news.google.com/news?cf=all&pz=1&ned=us&siidp=39944d844ffc7abbb02ec158a6d7441af0f7&ict=ln&ar=1492230060