Have Americans gotten so sick and tired of the gridlock in Washington, of the seemingly inept politicians they themselves elect, that they are willing to elect someone as politically inexperienced and asinine as Donald Trump?

The Sept. 23 episode of Comedy Central’s South Park, “Where My Country Gone?” attempts to address this very question.

The episode depicts a Canadian president with an uncanny resemblance to Donald Trump. He was elected despite his lack of political experience, and with the help of media sensationalism and political fanfare.

Most Canadians didn’t take his candidacy seriously until it was too late, and they emigrated en masse to the United States after he was elected. Mr. Garrison gets tired of the Canadian immigrants in South Park, and ends up disposing of the Canadian president, leading all the Canadians to move back to Canada.

By the end of the episode, Mr. Garrison has thrown his hat into the [U.S.] presidential race, despite, in his words, “not understanding politics, immigration policies, the law, or basic ideological concepts.”

The Canadians, of course, are stand-ins for undocumented or illegal Mexican immigrants, with Mr. Garrison and the unnamed Canadian president both representing aspects of Trump’s persona.

This episode was a blatant skewering of Trump and his supporters, but also of the media that has given him so much attention.

But the question remains: Could Trump really win the White House?

Recent numbers don’t support it. The real estate mogul’s momentum is slowing, and Americans finally appear to be coming to their senses.

This may be due to the fact that much of Trump’s initial popularity was due to the novelty surrounding his candidacy, with no one taking it very seriously, due to the fact that it seemed, and still seems, so ridiculous that a celebrity with no political experience, would run for president.

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows that Trump is in a virtual tie with retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, with a slim 21% to 20% lead.

This stands in stark contrast to July, when Trump was surging in several polls, and seemed to have all the momentum in the world.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also facing stiff competition from the most unlikely of candidates, 74-year-old U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

In the same WSJ poll, Clinton’s lead on Sanders is said to be 15%, assuming Vice President Joe Biden does not enter the race. With Biden factored in, Clinton’s lead drops to seven percent.

These numbers are also a change from the heady days of summer. Clinton’s lead has dropped from 60% in June, to 34% in July, to 15% now.

Despite Trump’s recent bad fortune, the rise in similar insurgent candidates such as Carson and Sanders might indicate that Americans are sick of the political establishment and presidential dynasties, and are ready to inject a much-needed dose of fresh, new blood into the government.

This dissatisfaction is also reflected in several recent polls.

A September 2015 Rasmussen Reports poll on Congressional satisfaction shows that only nine percent of potential U.S. voters think Congress is doing a good or excellent job, with nine times as many people rating Congress as doing a poor job, at 63%.

A similar July 2015 Rasmussen poll echoes some of the same trends. Only 14% of respondents said that members of Congress get re-elected because they do a good job representing their constituents, with 65% believe election rules are rigged to benefit incumbents. 59% of these pollees also believe that most members of Congress are willing to sell their vote for cash or a campaign contribution, with another 56% believing that it is likely that their own representative has likely done so already.

In yet another poll, taken by Rasmussen, this time in August 2015, most of those surveyed view the gridlock in Washington as a sign of partisan politics and not necessarily a difference of opinion. 70% of those polled supported this sentiment.

This is all not without a cause. With a dysfunctional federal government, a three branch system that seems to be in conflict more often than not, and the periodic threat of a government shutdown, politicians today are viewed as a far cry from noble public servants.

This partisan political landscape has even claimed the scalp of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who on Sept. 25, announced that he would resign from Congress.

This has been primarily attributed to the extremely toxic and unproductive political landscape. Boehner, who has been criticized by the right for his willingness to strike deals with Democrats, seemed to finally get sick of the toxic environment in Washington.

Overall, this coming election will play a pivotal role in our nation’s history. Will the tide be turned, or will Americans choose to continue down this fractured road of conflict?

Only time will tell.