<p>While some dismiss Donald Trump&rsquo;s campaign as showmanship, others are taking him seriously. Democrats feel threatened as they watch him connect with the masses.  ; His brand is as big as Hillary Clinton&#8217;s and he is rising in the polls.</p>
<p>Trump has emerged in Iowa as a serious contender in next year&rsquo;s GOP caucuses. &ldquo;Trump is interesting, in a strange sort of way,&rdquo; says Steve Roberts, former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d need to know more about his positions before I&rsquo;d [vote for him], but I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s outside the realm of possibility.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Many Republicans seem to share this sentiment.</p>
<p>Trump is confident that his low approval ratings will not stop him from becoming an important player in the elections. And he may be right. He&rsquo;s already leapt into second place in New Hampshire and Iowa since his official announcement 2 weeks ago.</p>
<p>Trump&rsquo;s controversial speech on June 16th during which he said of Mexican immigrants: &ldquo;They&rsquo;re bringing drugs. They&rsquo;re bringing crime. They&rsquo;re rapists,&rdquo; may actually have gained him popularity with some Republicans. ;</p>
<p>He later explained to <em>People</em> magazine: &ldquo;This is part of the campaign. It shows that we don&rsquo;t back down&hellip;I protect the border and it shows that we don&rsquo;t want [illegal immigrants] coming into the country.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Both NBC and Univision refused to air the Miss USA pageant, but Trump doesn&#8217;t regret his words. He&rsquo;s suing both companies for breach of contract. ;</p>
<p>&#8220;If he wants to be a serious candidate, he can be,&rdquo; says Trump&rsquo;s long-time friend and fellow candidate Chris Christie. &ldquo;From Donald&rsquo;s perspective, if [running for president] it&rsquo;s something he really wants to do, it&rsquo;s a free country, go ahead and do it.&#8221;</p>
<p>With a pocketbook big enough to fund an entire presidential campaign and name recognition which no candidate &ndash; with the exception of Hillary Clinton &ndash; can dream of reaching, this billionaire-cum-politician is starting to scare the democrats. ;</p>
<p>Trump&rsquo;s hatred for the government &ndash; despite the fact that he wants to run it &ndash; further diversifies him from the rest of the candidates.</p>
<p>According to a recent survey conducted in DC, only 33% of the 1,000 individuals interviewed were able to name one of their state senators. But you can bet they ;will surely recognize the name Donald Trump if they see it on a ballot. ;</p>
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