Posted on 03/30/2016 9:19:35 AM PDT by Behind the Blue Wall
Since I consider myself a traditional conservative, many friends of mine, on both the Right and the Left, are puzzled by my unwavering support for Donald Trump.
Their bewilderment is understandable. Trump is often rude and obnoxious. His demeanor can be arrogant and dismissive. At times, he comports himself as reckless and willing to lash out prematurely, prior to fully understanding all of the facts at hand. To put it simply, he is a “wrecking ball.”
Furthermore, Trump isn’t even a pure conservative in terms of policy; he is a populist. His statements over the years regarding such areas as limited government, religious liberty, states’ rights, and abortion have been inconsistent at best, and in some cases, have steered firmly to the left.
Still, given all of this baggage, I have my feet planted firmly in Camp Trump. But why? How can a principled, pragmatic, deliberate conservative be drawn to such a candidate? It is because I believe conservatism doesn’t stand a chance in this country without first delivering a very heavy dose of populism.
Populism, at least Trump’s version of it, is a platform built largely on the principle of economic nationalism. It focuses on three primary policy areas: trade, defense, and immigration.
[snip]
His stance on these issues, when taken together, represent the most important plank in the history of American conservatism. That is the vital importance, and in fact primacy, of national sovereignty. In fact, since our nation’s founding, the principle of national sovereignty has been the preeminent and driving force for what it means to be an American conservative.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
yep, well stated.
Is The Donald a conservative? No.
Do I care? No.
Conservative attitudes are winners, every time they are applied. But NOBODY is in the business of effectively communicating this bit of intelligence.
Do I support the presumed nominee? Damned straight I would.
What about voting for your principles regardless of outcome? Holding our nose has migrated from the general to primary season, great.
That introduces the arrogance that "your principles" are both correct and in the best interests of the future of our country.
Just a couple of the hundreds of reasons I support Trump...
While I will most likely vote for him if I have to, I don't have to be exited about it. If he's elected, I expect to be able to sit back and enjoy the buyer's remorse I figure we'll be seeing from many who are so strongly for him today.
I would argue that your principles are right for you regardless of which side you are on. You are betraying yourself when you choose for the lesser when there is an option that fulfills your needs, win, lose, or draw. Do not vote just to be on what might or might not be the winning team.
My vision of what is good for this country is different than yours, Trump’s, Cruz’s, Hillary’s, and probably 80-90% of Americans. I compromise my vote in the general when we are force fed a crappy candidate, like since 1988 and up to probably this November, and then it is a binary choice between bad and bad minus 1.
Which implies that your principles are more important than keeping a murderous Muslim Brotherhood tool out of the White House. The general election is TOO LATE for being a purist.
And voting for a loser will save how many babies, or stop how many Muslims or Mexicans at the border?
“And voting for a loser will save how many babies, or stop how many Muslims or Mexicans at the border?”
Some of these purity above all else folks should just write in the name “Jesus” on the ballot!
For me, it’s not possible that I would have buyer’s remorse. His victory in the primary is a defeat for a whole gaggle of people that I want to see lose. He could actually be a monkey and as long as he was a monkey not owned by the neocons and the globalists and the Chamber of Commerce, etc., it would be a victory.
As far as you know that is one of my main principles, but I have several others that are just as important to me and I vote accordingly. When the shiite settles to the bottom of the bowl and we get to vote for Mutt or Jeff I will vote for Trump because he is less bad than Hillary. I agree with some of what Trumps says, but not all, and I do not like his bravado. Walk softly and carry a big stick works better than talk a lot of crap and end up eating some. In a worse case scenario he could end up looking weaker than Barry if he keeps talking trash and ends up not being able to back any up. Plus his across the board, immediate tariff idea is just stupid and would wreck what is left our our economy.
As a staunch conservative I agree 100%. With any other candidate we KNOW we are going to get more of the same. At least with Trump we have a fighting chance and we won’t be crying about the media being unfair to our candidate. He WILL call them out.
“How can a principled, pragmatic, deliberate conservative be drawn to such a candidate? It is because I believe conservatism doesn’t stand a chance in this country without first delivering a very heavy dose of populism.”
THAT is the absolute irreducible crux of the situation. If we fail to get a handle on the several existential theats our country is facing - and SOON - our collective fealty to the ideology and values of conservatism won’t be worth spit.
Since he first announced his run for office, Trump has appealed to me as the one and only candidate in the race who truly gets this, and who’s bold enough, and courageous enough, to honestly do the things necessary to get a handle on those life and death issues.
And this is a from a supporter!
Most presidents only get a couple of thing done
Obama is the exception he has ruined everything
And the GOP said nothing
It is like the Hunger Games
Good article. I know that there are things that Trump will do that I won’t like. I know it for an absolute fact. But there are things that even Reagan did that I didn’t like. No president will do everything I want, and I am mature enough to accept that.
At this point in history we need someone who will fight the globalists. That is the existential battle of our time. All the other threats—terrorism, economic decline, social decline, etc. derive in some way from globalism. We either win the fight against the globalists, or we lose everything.
Trump is the only candidate, the ONLY one, who has shown an understanding of who the globalists are and how dangerous they are. He alone has shown a willingness to fight them. Will he win? I don’t know, but I know that he will fight, and he’s the only one who will.
You hold your nose or vote for illary or stay home.
I’ll proudly vote for an American who loves America, want’s to enforce our borders and has a true Love for our Veterans.
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