Posted on 08/10/2015 7:35:54 PM PDT by SamAdams76
I'm in the mood to ramble a bit so please excuse me for this rather long-winded vanity. Feel free to move on to another thread if you wish. Or you can pour yourself your favorite adult beverage and read on if you dare.
No, it's not one of those infamous swan-song "I'm leaving and I'm not coming back" vanities. We used to have a name for those kind of vanities but it slipped my mind. You should all be so lucky! That will never happen. Been here since the very beginning (changed my screen name back in '97) and I'm sticking it out to the end. So you guys are stuck with me unless I get the zot treatment or I check out of this world. I don't intend either to happen for a very long time.
So I'm coming off a long summer vacation and had some extra time to spend here recently. These are definitely interesting times we are living in. As the 2016 election season heats up, I think we are in for quite a ride. Which leads me to the motivation to write this vanity.
The Donald Trump phenomenon has caught everybody by surprise. When he jumped into the race just about two months ago, we all saw it as some much needed comic relief. Most of us figured he'd be out of the race in a matter of a few weeks in his typical spectacular fashion and we'd get back to serious business. I don't think any of us predicted he'd be topping the polls and by a rather comfortable margin at that. Even after making a series of blunders that would run the campaign of just about anybody else off the rails.
It is safe to say that nobody has ever seen the likes of Donald Trump before in a presidential campaign. We are like people on the ground seeing a 747 jet flying over us sideways at a 90 degree angle. We can't take our eyes off of it because we are waiting for it to crash. We are amazed however that it hasn't crashed already and that it is somehow keeping itself up in the air. Of course, we are all rooting that it finds a way to right itself so that it can make a safe landing (we are wishing for that, aren't we?).
So back to Trump a little later. After taking some time to study the other candidates in the race, I am convinced that we have perhaps the strongest field of presidential candidates ever assembled for the Republican Party. We have a total of 17 major candidates and with the exception of just a few of them, I would be proud to have any one of them as our next president.
I especially want to point out the virtues of Ted Cruz and Ben Carson. Two finer men can probably not be found to lead our nation. These are truly exceptional people with a long list of accomplishments, solid conservative values and they are both terrific family men. The accomplishments of Ted Cruz need not be rehashed here as any Freeper worth his/her salt will already be well familiar with them. But if you haven't had a chance to explore the resume of Ben Carson, please take the time to do so. You will not be disappointed.
So on one side you have Donald Trump and on the other side you have these very fine conservative candidates who are inarguably better credentialed than Donald Trump to be our next president.
Donald Trump. Where does one begin? Had Trump announced back in June that he was running for president as a DEMOCRAT, I don't think too many people would be shocked. Surprised yes, but shocked, probably not.
Well like him or not, we have him as a Republican candidate and up to now, he has been running away with this race, despite his many missteps and blunders. Trump's candidacy has been falsely declared dead more times than Bob Hope and Queen Elizabeth combined. Yet each time he bounces back stronger than ever. Even Keith Richards is getting jealous of Trump's almost supernatural resiliency.
What is it about Donald Trump? Many conservatives (including myself) have fallen under his spell. After years and years of seeing our conservative icons attacked and usually destroyed by a relentless left-wing media establishment, we are finally seeing somebody who can dish it right back and then some.
Now there is definitely something un-artful about the way Trump fights back. It is off-putting to most conservatives to see the way that he attacks back. All those Twitter messages that sound like they were written by some overgrown kid in his mother's basement, for example. But they seem to be not only working but setting the mainstream media back on their heels. They have no idea how to deal with this guy. And we love him for it. He's like the scrawny kid in school that fights back against the schoolyard bully, pins his arm behind his back, shoves his face into the mud and tells him to holler uncle. Many of us are cheering for this guy, even though deep down in our hearts, we know it probably won't end well in the long term.
So while this schoolyard brawl goes down between Trump and the media, our conservative candidates are finally starting to gain some traction. After strong debate showings on Thursday, both Ted Cruz and Ben Carson have taken to the road and are drawing large crowds and much needed donations to fuel their campaigns. They are moving up in the polls and in one NBC post-debate poll (it must have pained them so to put it out), Cruz and Carson are #2 and #3 respectively behind Donald Trump while establishment favorite Jeb Bush slips towards the middle of the pack. Even Carly Fiorina, another non-politiican, is rising fast.
Now the discussions here on Free Republic are getting quite heated between the pro-Trump folks and the anti-Trump people. The anti-Trumpers see Trump as a false idol who is not a true conservative. They see Trump as a disruptor who will end up dividing the conservative vote, resulting in a slam-dunk victory for the Democrats. On the other hand, the pro-Trumpers are just plain fed up with the political process. They have been burned in the past by career politicians and their false promises. After all, what has the GOP majority in both houses done for us lately? In there minds, our leaders have failed us and it's time to give an outsider like Donald Trump a chance, even though he's not a fully vetted conservative by any means.
I hate to see this division in the ranks although I do see and understand the passion on both sides of the fence.
What I want to say here is that regardless of how we feel today about one candidate or the other, we are still nearly six months (half a year!) away from the beginning of the primary voting. A lot can change between now and then. Trump may not even still be in the race by the time the Iowa caucus rolls around. So what I'm saying is let's not make enemies of each other at this time. I like to think that we here on Free Republic are all on the same team, even though we do have our differences. A Trump voter today could easily be a Cruz voter come January, as circumstances are likely to change between now and then.
Ridiculing or attacking each other for taking a pro or anti Trump position is not likely to win each other over. That's not to say we shouldn't have vigorous and passionate discussion (and be prepared to intellectually defend our own positions.) But we should not consider each other enemies - at least not when we are still six months away from the voting.
Now I'm as guilty as anybody else when it comes to this sort of thing. So I'm not claiming any high ground for myself. I will vow however to keep the discourse between my fellow Freepers more civil and respectful going forward.
Speaking for myself, while I am taking a pro-Trump position today, I am paying very close attention to Ted Cruz and I'm liking what I'm seeing. He was phenomenal in the "debate" last Thursday night and his campaign appearances in the Deep South this past weekend were electrifying. And to think that the media tried to destroy this guy.
I think win or lose this go-around, Ted Cruz has a great future ahead of him (he's only 44!) and has potential to be a historical figure along the lines of Ronald Reagan. A man of his caliber has nowhere to go but up.
So while I'm currently supporting Trump, if by the time my Connecticut primary comes around on April 26, Cruz is in the running for the nomination and that Jeb Bush has been knocked out, I will likely switch my vote to Ted Cruz. Even if Trump is still in the race at that time. So while I will vote for Trump over Bush, I will vote for Cruz over Trump, provided Cruz at that time has a shot at the nomination. I think a lot of the other Trump voters of today feel the same way.
Bottom line, many of us conservatives are fed up with politics as usual and especially with the way the GOPe has rigged the nomination process to eliminate true conservatives from the race and nominate middle-of-the-road milquetoast candidates who become easy pickings for the Democrat nominee.
Think about the dismal performance of the GOP nominees since Ronald Reagan. Sure, Bush Sr. won big in 1988 but he was still riding Reagan's coattails and it didn't hurt that the Democrats fielded one of the worst tickets ever (Dukakis/Bengtson). Since then, the GOP nominee lost big in 1992 and 1996. In 2000, GWB squeaked in only as a result of a handful of Ralph Nader votes in Florida. He then barely held off Kerry in 2004. Then it's been a train wreck ever since.
No wonder so many of us are enamored of Donald Trump. He is showing us how to fight back and how to win. Sure, he's a bull in a china shop and he's likely to eventually blunder his way out of contention, but for the moment, we are observing in awe, like that earlier described 747 flying sideways through the air.
And look at who's riding in Trump's wake. We have Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and even Carly Fiorina gaining on and even possibly surpassing the choice of the establishment, Jeb Bush.
Another Freeper in these forums described the situation perfectly. Look at Donald Trump as the delivery mechanism with Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and other conservatives being the payload. As for Bush, we'll just jettison him overboard like a blue ice cube from an airplane toilet.
So thanks for entertaining my vanity ramble and let's see where all this takes us.
If you would read what's been posted, we HAVE a good adult (and children too) beverage for you:
“As for Bush, we’ll just jettison him overboard like a blue ice cube from an airplane toilet.”
Perfect!
We've always known how, Sam. It's just that Trump is the first one to actually DO it.
Fiorina jumped on the Fox Anti-Trump bandwagon this weekend. If she is so quick to pile on to get a few more percentage points, forget it. She did very well in the debate and would have rose regardless. She could have taken the high road and said, Trump is Trump and I’d rather talk about my ideas and policies...but no, she had to pile on. Sorry, Carly...
Worst Opus ever.
;^)
Anti-Trump FReeper = conservative not wiling to support a liberal for the Republican nomination.
Buh bye!
All I can say is that it is going to be a very long campaign. Jeez, maybe I should climb into a hole can climb back out sometime in 2020.
Very nicely written, Sam.
I am fairly new to posting here . . and have been surprised at the degree of animosity . . mostly for pro-Trump people. I hope your post helps. Again, very well written.
We got McCain and Romney. They will force Bush next.
This is inevitable without a drastic change in strategy.
Whether Trump wins and blows up the GOP, or whether he paves the way for a true conservative remains to be seen.
There is no other option without a self-funded populist at this point.
I hate to break it to you,
but Bob Hope is really dead.
A very nice read and some good advice for everyone here at FR.
Opus! That was on the tip of my tongue and I just couldn’t pull it out before I hit the post button.
She has also come out knocking Cruz for "shutting down the government".
Fiorina is showing her true colors. And if anyone doesn't already know, her business/acquisition record stinks.It took HP years to recover from Fiorina.
more research needed
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.