Why is Trump getting so popular?

Sorry, but I think Trump is just plain pandering. He knows all about publicity and it's worth and he is going for it as a way of testing the waters for a run at a presidency for which he is totally unqualified. (To their credit, I do not think either party will consider him). This birther thing is not a hard question. It's a question that has already been answered conclusively for any sane person and if you think it hasn't, go get a new copy of your own birth certificate. It will come up, in most states, exactly the way the president's did and it will allow you to get a passport, run for office etc....exactly the way Trump's came up when they ran it. The arrogance of Donald Trump assuming that he can run a country because he can presumabley run a company (really he just ran up too damn much debt to be allowed to fail) is what truly bothers me. On TV and in corporate America, Trump tells anybody who doesn't agree with him "You're fired". A US president can't do that. There is this little thing called diplomacy that prevents a president from "firing" the world leaders with whom he does agree. "Your fired" might work on The Apprentice but it won't work on Fidel Castro. I resented the implication that a top businessman could run a company when Ross Perot tried it but I REALLY resent it coming from Trump. In addition to being a failed, bankrupted businessman, I think he's just plain crass and he's now proving it.

because he's researching obama's background? oh i doubt it. think it is much more likely because he, or rather his staff, have just profiled his potential supporters.

Trump is a businessman. He's used to looking for angles and opportunities that others are missing and jumping into the open spot. He's obviously noticed that approximately zero of the GOP hopefuls have the huevos to even approach the birth certificate issue. He's simply picking up on something that 24% of the American public worry about and something that even 14% of Democrats are not sure about. His biggest problem is that his fresh and bold approach will work until he calls some important female reporter "honey" and half the nation drops their jaws to the floor. I don't think their "safe and moderate" candidates can win against Obama. They need someone like Paul or Trump who will talk straight and forget the political BS. They might need to avoid calling female reporters "honey" but they will be forgiven for not being politically correct all the time. I think that will feel like a refreshing change for most people. What worries me most about Trump is that for the life of me, I don't seem to know who he's married to now. We all knew Ivana and Marla, but who would be the First Lady? I think he'll have to work on that.

Be very sure that Obama/Soetoro/Dunham/Soebarkh, aka who else, was NOT born in the US. However, it is really just a smokescreen for the fact that he fails the threshhold test for eligibility: must have two US citizen parents. Place of birth doesn't matter after that. He's out at first base and even the State Dept. declared him a "dual-national" 7/10. Folks, that means he can NEVER be "natural born" or a legitimate president. THE END. Trump, however, goes where Congress, the Courts, the media and other fools fear to tread. They are cowards; he is a hero. Pray for Donald Trump and his family. Obama's minions cannot buy him off; I fear to think of their other methods of "removing" their opposition.

Not being an American, and not really interested in politics, I don't know much about the political scene over there. I would just like to mention that I like Donald Trump (from The Apprentice, of course - always one or two seasons late, but we get to watch it ). I don't know if he will make a good or bad President or if he is President Material or not. I like the way he approach things. No nonsense, just straight out. He does not beat around the bush, he comes out and say what he wants to. Most importantly, he is not afraid of anything or anyone, and from what I hear, not really scared of tarnishing his image either. I would vote for him, if I have a vote....

I think Bill Cosby said it best...the only thing Trump is running is his mouth.

Donald Trump is speaking out loud the thoughts so many are thinking but not saying because of political correctness. Hurrah! Go DONALD!

I think Donald Trump is becoming popular politically because he is the Trump! Though I like Trump, I believe Donald Trump would never fit into any rigid political party. Trump is a thinking businessman and with very little diplomacy. (Laughs) Hi there, Donald Trump! Good-luck, Trump! By the way, Barack Obama is a political conservative; individuals often identified by their obsession with war!

I think it is great that Trump is asking questions and getting peoples' attention. However I am not sure if he would make a good president as he is very opinionated and IMO lacks the diplomacy necessary for the presidency.

I don't know if Trump is playing to the crowd or if he really believes it. A lot of Americans really believe the whole birth certificate issue! Do folks simply pander to the left when they shout out "BUSH LIED" and that Bush was behind 911? Some do, I'm sure. But a lot of people legitimately believe that Bush is a terrorist, and having money or being successful does not mean that you do not believe the same things as folks less fortunate. I question whether he's playing it up or actually believes it, because we're talking Donald Trump here. He does not need that to get attention. Half of the other stuff he believes in, like outright hijacking the Middle East for all its oil, is quite enough to get attention. His TV show is enough to get attention. Where there's attention, there's votes. There's no better example of that in history than President Obama. Let's be honest with it here. A huge friggin' chunk of the yes-we-canners haven't the slightest clue of anything Obama stands for. They don't know "politics" and don't know who Joe Biden is or that candidate Obama and President Obama are different people. A huge chunk of his support circle is still saying "give him time" and that he "inherited a mess" and that "he's helping" without really knowing what they're talking about. They're barking out talking points the same way they jumped on the wagon when they saw the t-shirts and realized Obama was the "cool" candidate. So you don't need to be outlandish to get votes. You just need to be a celebrity. In general, it's true that a person asking anything about the birth certificate may just be biased against Obama and wanting to stir the pot. But it's also the case that his supporters just pooh-pooh ANY criticism of the man and dismiss it as hard partisanship or even racism. So WTF... what's the difference? With the polarized world we live in, although some may see it all as black or white or either-or, it's simply not always the case. Someone can raise the issue without doing so because he's black, Whoopie, or because it's something a lot of "right wing" people believe in. (But it's only a "right" issue because the left won't touch it. That's how these things work. The supporting party, even if it has questions, buries them to make it look even more political than it is.) I hope Trump shakes it up. I can't call it. I don't know if he's full of sits or is genuinely wondering whether or not Obama was born elsewhere. But I find great humor in Donald out there and I find great satisfaction to think that the usual suspect schmucks might have to stand for something more than party slogans this go 'round if they want to shake him. Throughout this whole budget mess, I didn't hear crap from Mitt or Newt or any other supposedly big-time principled Repubican. I heard The Donald, Palin and the "celebrity" Republicans (not that Trump is a Republican, of course) speaking on the issue. That tells me already that Mitt and them are too cowardly to stand so strongly on our current problems. They're worried to come out on the wrong side of something, and that's just BS. Trump is fearless. I admire that. Trump-Palin 2012... just so I can LMAO at the 200 posts per day criticizing them for the same things these hypothetical posters call bigoted and meanspirited now. I'm a-wishin'

He is more popular now than he has ever been and I think his path to return to the White House once again in 2024 is pretty clear. Onward and upward, even if I disagreed with him on the birther issue.