Posted on 01/13/2016 1:23:05 PM PST by Isara
“You’ve convinced me [of the need to pass the Dream Act].” [NBC Latino, 8/22/13]
"I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis with what’s happening, you have to [bring in Syrian refugees]." [Interview with Bill O’Reilly, 9/8/15]
Donald Trump Tells Bill OReilly The US Has to Take Syrian Migrants (Video)
Regarding Kim Davis: “Because we had a ruling from the Supreme Court and we are a country of laws and you have to do what the Supreme Court ultimately, whether you like the decision or not, and it was a 5-4 decision, whether you like the decision or not, you have to go along with the Supreme Court. That’s the way it is.” [Interview with Bill O’Reilly, 9/8/15]
Donald Trump says Kim Davis was in wrong job must follow Supreme Court (Video)
These comments were not made by Jeb Bush who sits at 3% in the polls; they were made by Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination.
After spending an entire week discussing the Cruz citizenship issue, can’t we have a debate over whether we’ve properly vetted the frontrunner on some of the critical issues facing our nation?
"Everyone becomes an intrepid conservative convert on the road to Des Moines."
It is self-evident to anyone with a modicum of love for the Republic that this is an election our nation and party cannot get wrong. Following eight years of Obama’s fundamental transformation, the stakes are too high.
As someone who has vetted a number of congressional candidates who promised to be conservative but got sucked into the D.C. political vortex upon assuming office, I’ve seen that nobody runs in a primary as anything but a solid conservative. Everyone becomes an intrepid conservative convert on the road to Des Moines.
While no candidate has a perfect record, Republicans must have the ability to nominate a party leader with open eyes and a clear sense of where they are coming from and where they are headed. That is why it’s so vital to have a protracted discussion of the issues and put the personalities aside.
Each candidate has personal flaws and ideological inconsistencies. But a long-form discussion vetting each candidate on not just what they have said but what they have done regarding the most critical issues of our time will give the voters the clearest picture of what to expect from our eventual nominee. We will not get perfection from anyone but we must ensure we are not saddled with the David Souter equivalent of a presidential nominee.
This is why, at Conservative Review, we have posted the most comprehensive analysis of the candidates on an array of issues when it really mattered.
Among the top candidates, Cruz and Rubio have been pretty thoroughly vetted, although there is certainly always more to discuss. Much of the punditry and commentary over the past week has been consumed with the silly issue of whether Cruz—who was an automatic citizen at birth—is eligible to run for president as… an automatic citizen at birth. But with Trump leading in all the national polls just a few weeks from the start of the primaries, there is little discussion about where he stands on some of the critical issues or about his very recent and dramatic evolutions even on the issue of immigration.
You might be thinking, well, of course Trump has been vetted. After all, he has consumed the national discussion for the past seven months. But much of that national discussion was focused on the cult of personality—both from those who love him and those who hate him. But as it relates to the critical issues facing our country—sovereignty, security, society, our backwards system of governance, free markets—where is he coming from and where is he headed? Given his solid front-runner status these should be the most important questions at this point.
Where is Donald Trump on religious liberty and the role of the courts in social transformation? Does he really think they are the final law of the land when it comes to the most fundamental private property and religious liberty issues of our time? Evidently, he thinks the courts have the power to randomly rule on Cruz’s eligibility to run for president.
Will Donald Trump indeed repeal all of Obamacare? To this day, in his own words, he seems to back socialized healthcare and praises the systems in place in Canada and Scotland.
Where will Donald Trump head on the critical issues the minute he wins the primary?
These are not loaded questions only directed at Trump. They apply to everyone else as well. But with just a few weeks left until the primary and with Trump leading by double digits in every national poll, voters deserve as clear a picture of where Trump is headed as any other candidate.
There are those who don’t want to discuss any of the numerous liberal positions Trump has taken or still holds on so many critical issues—income taxes, the internet sales tax, the role of the courts, abortion, guns, etc.—because they suggest that immigration is all that matters.
There is nobody more sympathetic to that argument than I am. Immigration stands at the nexus of sovereignty, security, society, and numerous fiscal and economic issues. See my exhaustive article on how our backwards immigration policies will create a permanent Democrat majority, rendering every other policy issue moot. I’ve written several hundred articles on this issue and am in the process of writing a very detailed book on immigration, sovereignty, and the courts.
As such, I’m as tantalized as anyone by the fact that Trump has brought the issue of birthright citizenship for illegals and the right of a nation to exclude harmful immigrants to the forefront. I’ve been making a forceful case for the border fence for years, including my report on it this year.
But where does Trump really stand on the issue? Where was he on these issues when it mattered prior to running for president?
Because the media is assailing Trump from the Left for his newfound campaign position on immigration, many conservatives are reflexively attracted to him and are projecting all their hopes and aspirations surrounding the issue onto the personality of The Donald.
But as is the case with so many other issues where he was siding with the far-left until running for president, immigration is no different. His first intuition in September, when the refugee crisis flared up, was to say that we had a humanitarian obligation to bring in Syrian refugees. Then when he discovered that conservatives were so ardently opposed to it, he immediately did a 180 and categorically opposed it in his typical attention-grabbing fashion. At that point there was no turning around, and because the media was attacking his new position from the Left, everyone forgot (or never noticed) his first intuition.
While Sessions, Cruz, and others on the outside like myself were fighting the worst immigration bill of our generation in 2013, Trump was promoting the Dream Act. When it really mattered he wasn’t with us.
Moreover, what sort of judges would Trump nominate? Where does he stand on proposals to rein in the lawless courts? If he believes the courts are the law of the land, even when they violate the most fundamental rights or original intent of the Constitution, as he did with religious liberty, what will he do when the courts inevitably use the same phantom 14th Amendment legal theory to toss out his immigration proposals?
"When it really mattered he wasn’t with us."
Does this mean he can’t join the fight and permanently defend our sovereignty? No. As someone who genuinely cares about this issue, I would love nothing more than for Trump to crush the Democrats on this debate in the general election. We are not asking for a “natural-born” conservative immigration hawk; we will accept legitimate converts to the cause.
But isn’t it time for a serious discussion about whether we are really certain we know what “the day after” looks like with a Trump nomination given his track record, even as it relates to immigration?
“Your line about “greatest outsider†is a weak strawman attack. I merely pointed out to you that accusing Cruz of being an insider is inaccurate at best.””
It isnt a strawman. Isn’t that part of the myth of Cruz that is being shopped around? That he is the ultimate outsider?
You are in the Senate = you are on the inside.
“If you think that Cruz should have been able to somehow ram through bills in opposition to almost all the other members - well that’s kind of unreasonable don’t you think?”
Well if he cant get ANYTHING of major substance through, then why is he running for president? He still has to work with these people if he wins. And God knows if the GOP loses one or both houses. Then he is a lame duck.
We mocked Obama and Hillary for having similar thin records and accused them of running for the Senate just to skip out and run for president, but for Cruz, apparently it’s a plus.
‘SoConPubbie’ - Pubbie is right: Party over America!
I prefer to put my country over my party, especially the eGOP as you do.
The single greatest predictor of a man's future behavior is his past behavior. Men do in the future what they did in the past. This is commonsense. To discard Trump's history from judgment because of some arbitrary date is willful ignorance. And it's an invitation to disaster. As sure as the day is long, Trump will revert to form ... and then what?
Conservatives are going with “stronger and bolder” over “conservative” (since the “conservative” label is now stolen by the GOPE).
You will not get traditional conservative outcomes ever again without establishing “stronger and bolder”, first. TRUMP evangelical supporters seem to get that simple basic fact.
Cruz is no TRUMP, when it comes to strength and boldness. Evangelical voters seem to get that simple basic fact, also.
Even in IOWA, the vaunted Cruz firewall crumbles to the demands of the people for kick ass conservatism that restores freedom from regulation, jobs and industry and is hell bent on building a big, beautiful wall to stop COLD the foreign fighters, and South American anchor baby parents, and socialist invasion.
CRUZ is crickets, unconvincing, or ambiguous, and certainly DOA on all these kill-stops that have stolen our wealth, our traditions, our American patriotism and our security.
Nothing happens until a FORCE arrives to make it happen!
His name is “TRUMP”, and he is here. Cruz ain’t cutting it beyond evangelicals, and nationally TRUMP takes under half of those.
Evangelicals are not required to be pacifists on the border, or reward these b@4+@rd$ with “paths to legalization”, or play footsie with increasing foreign high skilled workers in here to take jobs from American graduates. Cruz needs to clean up the ambiguity, or ditch the videos of him speaking for these things.
That’s okay. I’m voting for the man that transcends party affiliation and a recent convert to conservatism.
“What was Trump’s vote on the Dream Act?”
Good question Trump voted with his money to democrats who came up with the dream act, he donated to the CLinton Foundation which pushed amnesty for illegals.
Trump is an opportunist who is misleading people unfamiliar with his record.
True of Rubio too, except Trump is a leader while Rubio is a puppet. If the establishment succeeds in taking out Trump it's going to be Rubio. For the general election Cruz would certainly have a loyal conservative base but very little appeal outside it.
He we go again. More pontificating from the armchair prep school pundits. Horowitz can get in the line for the little boys room behind Bill Kristol and Johan Goldberg.
So, Cruz would be in the tank for massive legal immigration and any trade deal the big donors desire.
No thanks.
Accountability is shape-shifting situational standard for you, so it seems. Trump is not accountable for his past actions but his challengers are.
Yep. I remember the great Arnold Ilk Herd that used to roam around FreeRepublic. The star struck didn't listen then, and they won't listen now.
Trump is what "hopey-changey" wishful thinking looks like from the Right. Just like Arnold was.
How's about you actually respond to the arguments cited against Trump in the article instead of merely dismissing his critics as petulant children? ... Oh, and Trump went to NYMA, which is, you know, a prep school.
You are the only person using the word ultimate. That Cruz is an outsider cannot be cogently argued.
Thinking he could get anything passed in the Senate by himself is irrational.
Cruz was the AG for Texas and is now a senator. He has a track record. He is in my opinion highly articulate and intelligent. It is enough of a track record for me. Obama’s lack of experience was never the main issue for me - it was his entire track record which screamed radical, leftist, muslim, homo. Quite a combination.
Trump also has a track record. And much of it would indicate that, contrary to his recent conversion, he is left of center. That should concern anyone on this forum.
Why do you support Trump?
And how do you explain that conversion?
It’s Beyond Time For A Cold-Eyed Look At Trump’s Record
Why? For those not supporting him, they’re well aware of his record, and for his followers they don’t give a damn about what he’s said or done in the past. Only what he’s saying today (even if it is different from what he said yesterday) is relevant.
The anti Trump hysteria is building to a fevered pitch. You can smell the fear.
It's rather frustrating to respond to these arguments when the questioners simply ignore those responses, and ask the same question of another supporter.
It's "reverse push-polling," and we know it.
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