Donald Trump opens the door for Kanye West

Kanye West announced in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) this week that he intends to run for president in 2020. West will undoubtedly face an uphill battle in securing whichever nomination he’ll be fighting for. Resultant of his decision to announce over five years ahead of election day, he will not be able to coordinate with his PACs for fundraising purposes. But there is a chance West could overcome those draconian FEC rules and secure a nomination.

{mosads}There was a time in this country when reality TV stars felt like that was all they could ever aspire to. But trailblazer Donald Trump has changed all that. His early success in the Republican primary has brought hope to the reality-TV-show-star community and has showed them that there’s more to life money and fame. There’s also power.

If West follows through on his candidacy, look for him to seek the Republican nomination. He should have just the right attributes to snag the same bloc that has sent Trump soaring to the top of the polls.

1. He’s not a politician. While the Democratic primary is still a politicians-only club, the Republican primary is more than open to non-politicians. Lack of political experience is actually a gateway to the top of the polls! While non-politicians former Hewlett-Packard Carly Fiorina and neurosurgeon Ben Carson are doing well, non-politician Trump (in his second presidential run) is playing a game of keep-away with reality held above his head and the non-Trump Republicans (a.k.a. most Republicans) desperately reaching for it.

2. He’s really rich. Trump is constantly reminding people that he is “really, really rich” and even though West is one “really” short of Trump levels of wealth, he is probably rich enough to be in the top 1 percent of one-percenters. His total net worth is purported to be about $130 million.

3. You can’t force your political correctness on him. Like The Donald, “Kanye doesn’t have time for political correctness” and he doesn’t give a damn what the media wants him to say. Like the time he went off script at American Idol’s Hurricane Katrina telethon and said that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Or the time he called out the VMAs in 2009 because they were trying to act like Taylor Swift deserved the best music video award even though “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

4. He thinks he’s great, so why shouldn’t you? Next time Trumps says, “Show me someone without an ego, and I’ll show you a loser,” he won’t be able to point at West. Like Trump, West believes in always telling the truth about how great he is. While Trump likes to compare himself to President Reagan and Billy Graham, West prefers bigger names you’ll definitely recognize: Jesus, Pablo Picasso, Michaelangelo (the artist, not the Ninja Turtle), Leonardo da Vinci and God.

Of course, these four attributes did not take Trump to the top of the polls on their own. West will need a flagship policy to get people to rally around him. Trump’s is to round up all the illegal immigrants and send them back to their countries of origin. Then, to build a great wall on the border which Mexico will pick up the tab for. Trump was running about ninth place when he came up with that policy; now he’s way out ahead in first place.

In the end, it’s not important what policy Kanye West ultimately decides to run with. What’s really important is that he’s loud, overexposed and boorish. The rest will sort itself out.

Zipperer is assistant professor of political science at Georgia Military College.