I have a very negative impression of the Republican party and Republicans. I think Republicans are evil. What can you say to change my mind?
I used to have the same opinion. I started off as a Democrat. I then voted Republican and am now a Libertarian. To answer your question; I think the media and the Democrat Party like to portray the GOP as "evil" or intellectually and morally inferior. To me, it's a good marketing and propaganda ploy and the Democrat Party and its' allies are very successful at it.The problem is, that much of these perceptions are usually based on a small amount of truth wrapped in around a big lie.Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism is a book written by Arthur C Brooks. He is an admitted liberal college professor at Syracuse University. I read the book myself and it was an eye opener.Suffice to say, he uses data to disprove assertions about conservatives. I can also tell you that as someone who leans mostly conservative, that when I read articles written by liberal or watch popular TV programs, seemingly written by liberals, I realize that liberals really don't give a fair and honest assessment of conservatism.I'll offer and example; Liberals make assertions that conservatives hate government. The reality is that conservatives believe in government, but feel that it has grown too large and moves too slowly and is very inefficient and ineffective. As an example, the US spends more on education per student than most other industrialized countries, but the results are not acceptable. The US ranks far from the top on standardized tests. A liberal response to the education crisis seems to be to spend even more money on the problem without thoughtful consideration to how to honestly help children. So, when conservatives refuse to spend more without truthfully and honestly addressing the causes of the problem, and thus find a solution, Democrat politicians make outrageous claims that the GOP hates children, and don't care about the poor.The low information voter hears this over and over from multiple sources, such as the main stream media, Hollywood etc. that they accept it as truth. Having stated this, the GOP uses the same tactic regarding issues dear to their hearts, such as gun rights. Sadly, it is difficult to have a civil discussion in today's day and age.
Why Donald Trump is winning the Republican nomination now?
It's a combination of two factors: 1) Everybody underestimated him 2) His enormous appeal to the Republican BASE (not the Tea Party crazies)1. UnderestimationWhen he first came into the race people just thought of him as a circus show. They thought he was just a buffoon out to get more ratings for his TV show (which was the initial plan actually: How Trump did it). They didn't take him seriously as a candidate. The GOP establishment and others thought they'd see this act before with candidates like Michelle Bachmann and this sudden Trump fever at the start of the election would run it's course. They were wrong, and they are going to pay for it because Donald Trump has so much momentum right now that I doubt Rubio, Cruz, or Kasich are going to catch up. According to the Rolling Stone, every Republican who has won the New Hamphire and South Carolina primaries has gone on the win the nomination. If the GOP had the wisdom to rally behind a single candidate early, they may have been able to beat Trump. They let months go by where Trump was the only candidate getting major media attention, and with most Republicans (well most Americans really) being low-information voters, what they hell did they think would happen?2. Appeal Donald Trump is winning because he has his finger squarely on the pulse of what the MODERATE Republican base wants. See a lot of people, particularly my more naive liberal friends, think Trump is appealing to the super-conservative religious nuts in the Republican party. They are dead wrong. For America's religious extremists, Ted Cruz is the candidate of choice. Trump's base are actually the moderate, working class Republicans. They're the type of guys (and gals) who would typically vote for Jeb Bush. They think Trump is their politically incorrect messiah, here to free them from the endless torrent of cookie-cutter politicians they've had to deal with since Reagan. His tasteless remarks, his boorish attitude, his ridiculous "build a wall and make Mexico pay for it" promises, everything liberals like me hate about him, THEY LOVE IT. It's a real Bandwagon effect, once you get on the Trump train, there is no getting off.