Republicans need to drop the anti-homosexuality rhetoric. They have to understand its a losing battle in American society and bringing up anti-gay rights automatically puts you at a disadvantage.
Donald Trump is a terrible candidate, I'm going to say up front, but there is one thing that Trump has that many candidates in this race do not have: a connection with the American people. When we scrape past his Megyn Kelly comments or anti-Hispanic rhetoric, we see that he knows how to conduct himself in public and appeal to the American people. Politics is often covered in big words and complex terms that the average American will not understand. Trump breaks this by providing an image that actually speaks with the American people.
Furthermore, Donald Trump represents only part of hopefully a new wave to change the American political landscape. Ralph Nader, well-known political activist and Independent Presidential candidate, has stated that "modestly enlightened rich people" can change the American gridlocked political system. Some examples include Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Tom Steyer. Nader continues by saying, "Presently, only very rich modestly enlightened people could have a chance to break this introverting cycle of political oligarchy, which unenlightened rich people generally approve of, that sets its own rules, makes its own laws, appoints its own judges and even brazenly forces taxpayers to finance its quadrennial political conventions." He says that these types of people can make changes in the political system because they have the independent monetary power to break away from special interest groups and lobbyists who fund these political campaigns.
Donald Trump is kind of the so-so option floating around. As he stated, "Part of the beauty of me is that I'm very rich." Although a very cocky and narcissistic statement, he's not necessarily wrong. Unlike other political candidates, who do receive special funding from third-party interests such as Koch Industries and whatnot, he has the funds to run his own campaign without being plagued by the deal-making and donations of the corporate class. However, Trump lacks any significant policy that is manageable by the U.S. Government, such as "building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico". Furthermore, he plagues himself with degrading commentary to many people where it really exposes his anti-intellectualism.
When we analyze some of the rising stars in each party, we clearly see what many Americans want to see. Bernie Sanders represents a liberal candidate who has a strong focus on helping the middle class and ultimately is a visionary. His stances on social injustice, wrongful incarceration, and the corporate political cycle is accelerating him past the Democratic front-runnner, Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump maintains a corporate independence where his campaign is not funded by special interests. Furthermore, his straight-forwardness in his speech appeals to Americans through familiarity. Ultimately, other candidates say that they feel what the people feel, but Donald Trump ultimately masters this aspect of appealing to the American voter. If you combine these two aspects of American society together, you potentially have a political force that traditional politicians will have a hard time keeping up with.
Also, I'm voting Kasich if anyone but Sanders win the Democratic nomination and Kasich gets the Republican nomination, and vice versa.
Ultimately, this is going to be an interesting election season because Donald Trump's presence shakes up both parties.