Can we get real?

While everyone is focused on Trump and his latest statements, no one seems to be focused on the fact that not a single primary vote has taken place. It's all opinion polls so far.  Nonetheless, the news media and Trump are locked in a kind of embrace - he says something outrageous; they react and provide him with free PR even if they say they are appalled about his remarks.

Meanwhile, here is some news about another GOP candidate and his views about universities who might actually win both the nomination and the election from Inside Higher Ed: Senator Marco Rubio is the only Republican presidential candidate talking in detail about higher education so far. And he’s not treading lightly. American higher education is “outdated,” “too expensive,” “broken” and “not working” for students or the economy, Rubio has said in recent months. The system, he says, is controlled by a “cartel of existing colleges and universities” that keeps out new, alternative providers of postsecondary education. “We do not need timid tweaks to the old system,” he said this summer. “We need a holistic overhaul.” On the one hand, bashing higher education -- especially as a bastion of liberal elites -- is a well-worn tradition for some candidates on the Republican primary trail... Rubio’s critique of higher education, though, builds on work he’s done over the past several years in the Senate to push legislation overhauling various aspects of accreditation, federal student loan repayment and how the government can or should track the performance of colleges and universities...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/10/he-takes-traditional-higher-education-rubio-runs-policy-wonkery

Whatever you may think about the above, if you are concerned about what the 2016 election might mean for higher ed, you might want to pay more attention to it than to the latest Trump statement.