I was reading an article yesterday that declared that Donald Trump is on track to win the most popular votes of any Republican Presidential Candidate ever. If he continues on his current pace, he would pass the 10.7 million number garnered by President George W. Bush. Unlike many of my colleagues, I do not endorse or take a side in a primary election. My thought is that the people who vote don’t need a talk show host to tell them how to do so. Their wisdom, and that of citizens that have come before, have been the basis of democracy for a long time. What I have tried to do is to lay out a lot of information on this election from many sources, and analyze what is going on, as well as offer a few of my own opinions as one citizen along the way. I say all of this because when I hear peers of mine in the talk show business act like they are the final word on who the best candidates are, I get really annoyed. Yes, they definitely have the right to do so; there is no doubt about that. My problem is that they disrespect voters in this country by going against their votes rather than trying to understand why those citizens voted the way they did. Several of those colleagues who I respect come after my show on this station. This past Tuesday, we watched Donald Trump win 5 Eastern States from Rhode Island to Maryland , and of course here in Pennsylvania. In those 5 states, he won every county, district, and every demographic the experts could analyze. He had no less than 54% of the votes in every one of those states. He has garnered 2-1/2 million more votes to date than his nearest challenger, and is the only one of the candidates who can mathematically win the 1237 needed before the Republican Convention. In addition, he is 2 million votes ahead of Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee who was already the nominee by this time 4 years ago. I would note that Romney never had to face 16 opponents who also received a number of votes. In addition, Republican voting is up 64% while Democratic voting is down 35%. People are participating far more than even in 2008 for Republicans. As Talk show hosts, I think our job is to help get out the facts, analyze, be honest , help listeners to understand, inform, and most importantly listen. When faced with all of the numbers listed above, one has to question what you are saying as a national host to all of those voters who went another way than for your candidate, and by downing that candidate that many have voted for, Are you just plain telling the voters for Trump that they are uninformed and stupid? It seems that is the case, and in this campaign and election season, the one lesson we should have learned by now is that the people have grown tired of being told to sit on the sidelines, and to shut up until they are to come and cast their vote. They don’t need me or anyone else to tell them how to do it or what they feel. No, they simply need to be respected in that they care about their country, and that they matter. Whether they make the right or wrong choice on who the next president remains to be seen, but at the end of the day, I will stick with the will of the people, try to figure out the phenomenon, and respect them. I will also listen carefully and try to figure this thing out with them. They don’t need any advice from me!….Gary Sutton
