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Who is Donald Trump, Really?
Texas GOP Vote ^ | December 1, 2015 at 8:14 AM | Tom Donelson

Posted on 01/15/2016 11:38:31 AM PST by TBP

Byron York had an interesting piece on Donald Trump that is worth reading. At least anyone who might be interested in the real Donald Trump. Trump appeared in front of the “non-partisan” No Labels group who desperately wants candidates that will “compromise” even though it is never clear what compromises will result in.

Donald Trump told this group, "Let me just tell you, the word compromise is not a bad word to me. I like the word compromise. We need compromise, there is nothing wrong with compromise, but it's always good to compromise and win. Meaning, let's compromise and win." Can you imagine the reaction of Trump’s supporters if a Marco Rubio actually met with this group and said this? The cries of RINO would arise and say that Rubio is nothing but a tool of the Establishment.

York's thesis is that Trump is prone to saying outrageous things or beginning with outrageous positions so he can get what he wants. This is Trump the deal maker who understands you won’t get all that you want so you start with many positions that you know you can throw away to get what you want in negotiations.

As American Enterprise Institute Marc Thiessen noted, a portion of Trump’s plan on immigration is actually an idea that came from Texas Moderate Senator Kay Baily Hutchison, who proposed Trump's “touchback” in which you deport millions of immigrants to let them back in. You can decide whether this is a practical plan, but make no mistake, under Trump’s reform, the vast majority of illegal today will still be here after his reforms. This means that the results will be no different than a President Rubio or a President Bush. If you don’t believe me, listen to Trump’s own words when he told CNN's Dana Bash, “I would get people out and then have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal…. A lot of these people are helping us … and sometimes it’s jobs a citizen of the United States doesn’t want to do. I want to move ’em out, and we’re going to move ’em back in and let them be legal.”

I have already made the case that Trump’s plan is laying the basis for Republican compromise on immigration, and I am not the only one as National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru has made the same observations. Nor is that the only area that Trump will compromise on. As I have mentioned in past posts, moderate and liberal Democrats and conservatives have all agreed that any tax reforms will include lower marginal rates and fewer deductions since 2009. Even the President's own commission under moderate Republican Alan Simpson and liberal Democrat Erskine Bowles agreed with this consensus and Trump's own tax plans follow along those same lines. Trump's tax plans also have been sold as a boon for the Middle Class, using language similar to what Marco Rubio has said about his plan. (There are differences in details but Trump’s tax plans are part of what the real consensus truly is.)

Trump has set the stage for his own version of the big compromise on both taxes and spending if elected, and his foreign policy is closer to the left than the right as he has supported the leftist position that much of the Middle East's problems are Bush’s fault and not Obama's handling of foreign policies, even though he has criticized Obama's deal making skills. In attacking Obama’s deal making skills, he has not really attacked the basis of Obama’s foreign policies. In the case of the Iranian deal, he has made it clear that he would not ditch the deal but simply “renegotiate” the deal. And his protectionist trade views are in line not just with the populist right but also the hard left.

The reality for Republican voters is that Trump is the most centrist candidate we have running, if you chose to read what he actually says as opposed to the image he projects. My own view of Trump is that of a business man who loves to make money; he has an instinct for conservative ideas but he is not the conservative that Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio is. Trump doesn’t keep a copy of F.A. Hayek in his back pocket, and over the past decade, he has taken positions that are to the left of the GOP and other times, he sounds like the hard core right wing. If you look at Trump’s supporters, they are more politically moderate than Rubio’s or Cruz's supports, and they are more blue-collar. They are not traditionally conservative but he is building a broader center-right coalition, leaving the question of will that be enough? And a Trump Presidency will be a centrist administration with something for everyone, but will it be a conservative administration? That is a question that one can’t fully answer.


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: 1800goldmansachs; 2016trump; cheappolitician; election2016; flipflop; liberal; opportunist; progressive; tds; thedonald; trump; trumpprogressive; typicalpolitician; usualsuspects
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To: American Faith Today
...."It really is rather ridiculous that people would be getting upset over the New York values comment isn’t it?"....

Just like every other spoken word Cruz says ...it's all about mis-directing it to say something they can use to manipulate the emotions of the masses.....and then the media runs with the story for ratings...never for the truth.


61 posted on 01/15/2016 1:11:51 PM PST by caww
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To: TBP

.
Trump is an establishment Democrat.


62 posted on 01/15/2016 1:21:07 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: kiryandil

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Way to Go!

Attack the messenger.


63 posted on 01/15/2016 1:23:53 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: CatherineofAragon
..."Trump WILL compromise"....


64 posted on 01/15/2016 1:24:51 PM PST by caww
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To: editor-surveyor

65 posted on 01/15/2016 1:27:26 PM PST by caww
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To: TBP
The reality for Republican voters is that Trump is the most centrist candidate we have running, if you chose to read what he actually says as opposed to the image he projects.

Some of us have seen this from the beginning. But others would rather attack an excellent constitutional conservative candidate because of misguided theories about his birth.

66 posted on 01/15/2016 1:28:11 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Revenge is a Daesh best served cold.)
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To: factoryrat

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He’s the Bullshitter that is stomping the hope for a conservative victory into the ground.
.


67 posted on 01/15/2016 1:28:13 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: ScottinVA

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You must have been at the rally where Trump turned the water in the swimming pool into wine...


68 posted on 01/15/2016 1:33:15 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: factoryrat; biff

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>> “Did Trump make his money solely by trading stocks?” <<

He made money by swindling retirement investors that put their money into his REITs before he redirected the cash and allowed the REITs to go bankrupt.


69 posted on 01/15/2016 1:39:50 PM PST by editor-surveyor (Freepers: Not as smart as I'd hoped they'd be)
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To: editor-surveyor

Thanks for the new info. I just read also how he swindled 40 million out of his “Trump University” deal. In addition there was some housing deals in Mexico he yanked out from investors.

Wonder if he ever dealt some three card monte?


70 posted on 01/15/2016 1:48:12 PM PST by biff
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To: CatherineofAragon

Cruz was my first choice all along, but I liked some of what Trump said such as... real negotiators as apposed to Caroline Kennedy, things along those lines.

I was able to take him until he trashed Ted Cruz. Am wondering when Sarah Palin will come to Cruz defense. I understand that Sarah is in a tough spot but Cruz has been a genuine friend, Trump would have to be filed under fair weather friend.


71 posted on 01/15/2016 1:50:53 PM PST by Chauncey Uppercrust (CRUZ 2016 OR BUST Trump supporters love NY VALUES)
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To: Las Vegas Ron

If you did not see it I cant help you


72 posted on 01/15/2016 1:51:40 PM PST by Chauncey Uppercrust (CRUZ 2016 OR BUST Trump supporters love NY VALUES)
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To: Chauncey Uppercrust

I agree with you; I’d like to see her speak out, too.

It was always going to be illuminating, seeing the first clash between Cruz and Trump. I expected that the vast differences in character between the two men would be revealed, and thrown into stark contrast. I think that happened last night, don’t you?


73 posted on 01/15/2016 1:55:59 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("Ted Cruz is the type of guy to swim across a moat with a knife in his teeth. He knows how to fight")
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To: Chauncey Uppercrust
If you did not see it I cant help you

Ah, I see.

Just throw out accusations without proof, got it.

FYI, if any FReeper was here tossing out that kind of BS I would be spanking them my self.

Thank you for revealing your purpose here.

74 posted on 01/15/2016 1:57:03 PM PST by Las Vegas Ron ("Medicine is the keystone in the arch of Socialism" Vladimir Lenin)
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To: CatherineofAragon; Chauncey Uppercrust

Ooooh, a n00b love fest, get a room.


75 posted on 01/15/2016 1:58:29 PM PST by Las Vegas Ron ("Medicine is the keystone in the arch of Socialism" Vladimir Lenin)
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To: TBP

I’m curious as to why so many of Trumps detractors feel the need to tell everyone that Trump is no conservative? When has he ever claimed to be one? His political stands are more nationalist than anything else.

This election is not about Trump. It is about putting our self appointed “ruling class” in their place. The electorate is angry enough to take a hammer to the establishment and Trump happens to be the biggest hammer available.

On the plus side, his biggest concerns also concern conservatives.


76 posted on 01/15/2016 1:59:10 PM PST by yuleeyahoo ( Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him. - Groucho Marx)
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To: Las Vegas Ron

Ron, you and I have always gotten along fine...I’m pretty sure I haven’t been openly rude to you.

But I give what I get, so take your Trump worship and shove it. You should have picked a better candidate.


77 posted on 01/15/2016 2:03:35 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("Ted Cruz is the type of guy to swim across a moat with a knife in his teeth. He knows how to fight")
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To: Colonel_Flagg

And people here are now treating that constitutional conservative as if he’s the worst person on earth.


78 posted on 01/15/2016 2:06:48 PM PST by American Faith Today
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To: CatherineofAragon
But I give what I get, so take your Trump worship and shove it. You should have picked a better candidate.

I have two candidates (Cruz, Trump) in this race and one enemy, Hillary.

Unlike you, I do not spend my time deriding one to prop up the other.

If your looking for candidate worship, I suggest you try the mirror.

79 posted on 01/15/2016 2:11:31 PM PST by Las Vegas Ron ("Medicine is the keystone in the arch of Socialism" Vladimir Lenin)
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To: Las Vegas Ron

It’s not necessary to deride a progressive buffoon in order to prop up a conservative.

The former is already low as can be, while the latter is above him.

Put them side by side, and the contrast is spotlighted. It’s too bad that some on our side still can’t even see the difference.

Whatever. You have a nice night.


80 posted on 01/15/2016 2:14:27 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("Ted Cruz is the type of guy to swim across a moat with a knife in his teeth. He knows how to fight")
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