VOTE TRUMP!
COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVE
Posted on 03/22/2016 5:14:05 AM PDT by Kaslin
This short essay is in response to a friend who asked me to explain how Donald Trump is unacceptable to "movement conservatives."
Let's first acknowledge that many Trump supporters don't even claim to be conservative -- though others do -- and Trump himself is rather dismissive on the point, so they may consider this column a meaningless academic exercise. But a Trump supporter asked, so I'll try to explain.
Because I think my questioner was inquiring mostly about issues, I won't delve into Trump's apparent lack of presidential temperament and public deportment -- as reflected mostly in the debates and his speeches -- other than to suggest that they betray values that don't strike me as particularly conservative.
On the issues, Trump appears to have no ideological core. He can't sufficiently define "conservative" and, when pressed, says that even Ronald Reagan wasn't that conservative. Trump cites Reagan's earlier affiliation with the Democratic Party as his excuse for having supported liberal causes and politicians all his life, though unlike Reagan, Trump can never point to a personal conversion. He prefers to work with the uncompromising, extremist left, represented by Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, rather than defeat it.
But having no internal conservative antenna, what goals would he seek to achieve through his legendary negotiating wizardry? Indeed, many conservatives sense that Trump is not one of them because while he champions national sovereignty and patriotism, he evinces no understanding of conservative ideology and much less of the Constitution and its design of limited government. Under some political pressure, Trump promises to appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court, but there is no indication he has any real commitment to this vital principle.
It's not just that Trump, for a presidential candidate, is conspicuously ill-informed on political science and policy but also that he has no abiding allegiance to conservative policy solutions, as evidenced by his flip-flops, which are wider-ranging and more frequent than those of other notorious flippers. Even on his signature issue of immigration, he's exhibited a surprising openness to soften his positions. In any event, he is easily less reliable on this issue than Ted Cruz.
Movement conservatives are also uneasy with Trump's conflation of "Art of the Deal" business practices with conservative governance. Trump's success in creating thousands of jobs signals to conservatives that he is a friend of business, but it doesn't assure them that he comprehends the government's role (or lack thereof) in creating a job climate. Presidential statecraft isn't the same as private entrepreneurship. Government doesn't "create jobs"; it enacts policies and laws to remove the shackles of government so that the private sector can flourish on its own power. A private CEO is under different constraints than the president. Though Trump's acolytes boast that he "knows how to get things done," he won't -- and shouldn't -- enjoy the same latitude to operate as president.
Trump seems disinclined to laissez faire and too comfortable with a major role for the federal government on economic issues. More troubling is his support for tariffs and protectionism, which could significantly damage our economy. Tied to this issue is one of the most distressing developments of this campaign: the emergence of class warfare themes emanating from the "right."
Trump gives lip service to reducing spending and balancing the budget but offers few specifics; see his hollow promise to end fraud, waste and abuse. Experts believe that his fiscal plan would lead us into further debt. Having been coached to prepare a tax plan palatable to conservatives, he has made some progress here, but he is disturbingly open to punishing the "wealthy" through progressive tax policies -- which would add more fuel to class tensions and be counterproductive for the economy.
Trump stubbornly refuses to reform Social Security, which is on a collision course with national insolvency and cannot be "saved" by robust economic growth as Trump glibly contends. We have more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities with our entitlement programs, and no marginally informed person believes we can simply grow out of this inevitable train wreck. In refusing to acknowledge that or put forth a plan, Trump has sided with demagogic liberals.
It's not just on economic issues that Trump betrays an alarming lack of knowledge. Indeed, Trump substitutes slogans for serious policy proposals on many issues, and conservatives instinctively know that he doesn't get it -- that he's not even interested in getting it.
Accordingly, Trump's promises to make America great again and to restore winning are pathetically devoid of specific plans to achieve those goals. No presidential candidate in my lifetime has demonstrated less command of the issues than Trump, and his lack of intellectual curiosity and interest cannot be adequately remedied by his selecting smart advisers. We need someone at the helm who has an understanding of important issues and who will be guided by conservative instincts. Instead, Trump has shown a tendency to favor strong government action to get "results" -- more government, more authoritarianism, not less. This is a serious danger signal to conservatives.
On a smattering of other issues, Trump's conservative bona fides are in doubt, from affirmative action to the Second Amendment to universal health care to religious liberty to the Iran nuclear deal to his professed neutrality on Israel and Palestine to his dubious support of life, including his endorsement of federal funding for America's premier abortion factory, Planned Parenthood. I realize he and his supporters vehemently deny some of these criticisms, but I've heard his disconcerting statements on them, even if he later modified or retracted them.
Trump has been brilliant in hijacking anti-government sentiment and in amplifying his immigration and trade message through manipulating the press, and I admit he might seek to honor some of his basic campaign promises. But we have no assurance beyond these few issues that Trump would behave or govern like a limited-government conservative, and because of his practiced vacillation and refusal to commit to many other issues, he'd have a mandate to do what he darn well pleases -- and that's more than a little scary to me.
It concerns me that after Americans had finally united in strong opposition to Barack Obama's leftist record, the movement was co-opted by a populist with a super-amped megaphone. The solutions to America's problems are not some hodgepodge of policy goals fueled by nationalistic pride that is untethered to principles of limited government. You don't restore America's greatness by burning the house down, especially when you can remodel it from the inside out through a rededication to America's founding principles and constitutional conservatism.
I could better understand the support behind Trump if there weren't an infinitely superior candidate in Ted Cruz, who would specifically address the problems that plague us -- and without abandoning the principles that made America unique in the first place.
If I hear Ted Cruz is not the Establishment Candidate one more time.
Like Eric Bolling said two weeks ago, Ted you are the Establishment Candidate , no matter what the Limbaugh's say, Ted Cruz doesn't have 10% of Ronald Reagan in him.
Someone who does have an idealogical core would not tell us that he can be anything we want him to be, in other words wearing his idealogicalness like a jacket - easy to remove.
At least Bernie has a core, not one that I like, but what you see is what you get.
Conservatism has become a cult. These self appointed high priests of conservatism declare who is pure enough...
I’m so sick of being insulted.
First, it was the Liberals.
Then it was the Rinos.
Now it’s the Anti-Trump conservatives.
JEB! Is that you? “He is not a Conservative!” Cute!! ;-)
Leni
Just what do you find worth conserving as the conservative reps have designed it currently?
They have failed, been led astray, or are plain crooked.
Trump understands what lubricates free economy. We have to keep Washington’s paws from our individual wealth. He has been on the inside paying the rule makers for his personal progress...a license to thrive.
And he makes money when the rest of us can afford to use what he has built.
Cruz is ripe for being bought. Too much ego. Little will change.
His personal personal is crafted to appeal to originalists, but it is window dressing for approval. He would have been thrown out of the Constitutional Convention by far better men.
Trump is just himself. And he could not have achieved his dreams by cheating and lying.
TED CRUZ'S MOTHER WAS BORN AND RAISED IN DELAWARE, WHICH MAKES TED CRUZ A NATURAL BORN CITIZEN. TED CRUZ'S MOTHER ALWAYS WAS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, SHE NEVER BECAME A CANADIAN CITIZEN. TED CRUZ NEVER HAD TO TAKE A NATIONALIZATION TEST AND NEVER HAD A CANADIAN PASSPORT.
Last but not least.
STOP MAKING A FOOL OF YOURSELF
It's not happening with Trump and it just offends their sensibility.
He's just going to have to win the election without the chattering classes.
Ah, just what the planet needs - more “Ted Cruz is the only real conservative!” BS.
To me, neither Limbaugh is stupid. For both of them to be so utterly blind to the fact that their “ideal conservative” doesn’t have the SLIGHTEST chance of winning the general election over a democrat tells me that they’re simply mouthpieces for the Uniparty and don’t CARE of the Republicans win the election or not - unless their bought ‘n’ paid for guy is the candidate, of course.
These talking heads are part of the problem, not the solution.
Of course Trump is not conservative. He also is angry, egotistical, vulgar, and is a street bully. His upside is that he is not Hillary. If you are part of the rabble like me, what is not to like?
You need to stop freaking out on people.
MUST-READ BUMP
Stupid article. Which Republicans in Congress are conservative and get things done? The GOPe has shunned conservatives for years. Conservatism is not tolerated by the GOPe. So-called conservatives seem to roll over for Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. We pass Obama’s budget without even a whimper. Trump expands the tent of the GOP - a task the GOPe has failed at accomplishing - and he is shunned, too. It wasn’t long ago Cruz was vilified by the party. Trump is a symptom, not a disease to be eradicated.
Online voting or cellphone voting? Regardless, rat fraud will be enormous. Instead of 100% Hillary Rotten Clinton votes it will be 200% Hillary Rotten Clinton votes
I think, as the front runner, Trump has focused on those issues facing our Republic that can be corrected within a 4-year time frame.
We have become who we are through several “socialist” steps. What makes us think that we can walk these steps all at once.
I am a Cruz supporter but we I also understand that we cannot ^swing the pendulum^ all-at-once.
4 L8R
No, but he is an American, David! He loves his country more than himself and is true to his values, unlike the DC Uni-Party political weathervanes, which, unfortunately, includes The Canadian.
34 people dead and you are looking at how it helps Trump?
Stay classy Trump supporters.
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