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I pretty much assume all politicians are essentially clowns on some level.

Trump has been grooming his persona for decades, at least in the NYC area. He was Howard Stern all the time pushing his misogynistic playboy persona, he used to show up all the time on local news shows. He used to be seen at all sorts of NY sports events and concerts. I met him at Shea stadium - he sat right in front of us. He's a nice guy.

But he knows how to sell his persona as a very rich playboy good guy - and he probably is. But that's not really what I'm looking for in a president. A hard partying, good bowling butcher might also be a great guy, every salty old fishing boat captain I've met have been great guys. My best friend since kindergarten is a NYC union guy who goes to a lot of country and blues shows with me - great guy. But none of them are what I want in a president. I want an ideological conservative with a plan to shrink the size and role of government in my life. I don't know if that's Cruz, but I know it ain't Trump.

I want an ideological conservative with a plan to shrink the size and role of government in my life. I don't know if that's Cruz, but I know it ain't Trump.

Well, how about a pragmatic conservative with a plan to shrink the size and role of government in your life?

Methinks thou doth protest too much if you think that Donald Trump won't try to shrink the size and role of government. Donald Trump certainly knows that's necessary in the regulatory/business world in most cases, and the same should be true for individuals: maximum options and empowerment.

I want an ideological conservative with a plan to shrink the size and role of government in my life. I don't know if that's Cruz, but I know it ain't Trump.+

I have no idea what Trump would truly do in office, but I suspect it would go like this: Trump probably doesn't have strong ideological positions. That's why he seems to bend so much. But he does seem to have some pretty pro-American goals - to guard its safety, to help it prosper, and to make it respected. He will then take whatever actions necessary to promote these goals.

For example, he might just get that wall built, but it won't be because he just believes its wrong for illegals to break our laws, but because he sees the effect on our safety and security having carteleros and various jihadists flowing across the border at will has. So he'll do the job, not for ideological reasons, but for pragmatic ones. He sees the cause and negative effect, and deals with the cause. Same with the economy. Trump might not be a small-government conservative, but he might see the negative effect that overbearing regulation has, or that "free trade" has, and decide that a lot of the government interference is causing problems with the economy, and thus he removes the interference and the government also, coincidentally, gets smaller.

The point is that Trump may not be an ideological conservative, but his pro-American stance will cause actions that will absolutely overlap what an ideologically conservative president would do. In such a case, everyone is happy (except lefties, but screw them). I don't see the other politicians achieving as much as what we would want, because if ideology is the ONLY thing that motivates you, you'll probably fail or even cave more often. But if you are implementing policies because it is the only logical, rational thing to do to achieve your specific goals, you'll get it done because it will never occur to you not to do it