Replies

Ok, I hear you all. Cruz is the only real conservative here. And I will certainly vote for him. But Trump is offering us something that can’t be ignored. Trump is breaking through the corrupt media and the corrupt republican establishment. He is exploding a corrupt election process that undermined every conservative who got anywhere close to the White House.

Four years ago you watched every conservative moved above Romney in turn, before some disqualifying revelation would turn up. Then the media would only report that one issue until the polls showed that the candidate was dead or he quit. Do you not believe they have Cruz’s number as well. Do you really think Cruz will be able to debate his way out of it, when they only ask one question and never report his full answer. Cruz is not big enough to stop it. He’s smarter than the rest. He is right on all the issues. But he is not an A list media person. So he relies on news media to make him a star. Trump is a star.

Trump is blowing throw the media like a jack hammer. He is blowing through the big money because he doesn’t need it. And that’s not because he has lots of money. He does. But he is getting free, and better TV time on every media outlet. Not just those boring news outlets that nobody watches or those endless 30 second commercials. Trump shows up on real television. And they are glad to have him. Even on Saturday Night Live, they gave him a pass while he hosted the show and was in almost every sketch. Most of them were flattering to him.

Sarah and Rush are seeing this, both are stars in their own right. So, they know the situation. Trump is doing something nobody else can do. And the country, especially the conservative movement, needs it to happen. Republicans need to stay away from the news media. They are corrupt. Conservatives need to watch out for big money. Big money has bought the republican hierarchy. And if Trump is successful both will come tumbling down. Afterwards,
conservatives will have a fairer playing field.

...Cruz is the only real conservative here. And I will certainly vote for him. But Trump is offering us something that can't be ignored. Trump is breaking through the corrupt media and the corrupt republican establishment.

Wonderful and balanced analysis and good comparison of Trump and Cruz's strengths.

Let me pick up on your point and add some more thinking...

What does it take to lead the country and make America great again?

I think it boils down to leadership and excellence across three spheres:

Policies -- Having the correct positions on where to move the country;
Communications -- Influencing the country by the way you present and sell your ideas; and,
Administration -- Managing the country and getting the biggest organization in the world (the U.S. federal government) to implement your policies.

OK, so let's break this down a little bit more.

Beginning with the Policies area. This is the subject of most discussions on FR, in the media, and on conservative radio progams.

And people on FR argue back and forth who would be more conservative: Trump or Cruz. And perhaps Cruz scores better on social issues. Trump meanwhile scores higher on stopping illegal immigration. And we could go right down the list of issues and compare their positions in all sorts of areas.

So who has the better or more conservative policies? People on FR have debated that point for many, many months now and there is really no consensus.

But here's my point: policies — as vital as they are — are only one dimension out of three we need to have a successful president.

So let's now examine the Communications side of being a president. Here I would point to three arenas of competence:

Communicating with the media;
Communicating with Congress; and,
Communicating directly with the people through TV, radio and social networks like Facebook and Twitter

Now I would argue that on all three of these fronts, Trump has a decided advantage over Cruz.

First of all, as you said very well, Trump is the master of communicating with the media. Perhaps no one in the history of presidential elections has done better at working the media.

And in the second area — communicating with Congress — I think Cruz is a bit handicapped because he's burned a lot of bridges fighting the good fight with the GOPe. And this was the subject of Peggy Noonan's column a few days ago.

And on the social media front, Trump is pretty far ahead of other candidates, I think. Trump talks to his supporters multiple times per day on Twitter and has a huge following on both Twitter and Facebook.

Finally, Administration is probably Trump's stongest suit. In fact, here's where Trump is holding four Aces while everybody else on the table only has a pair of 4's or 5's in their hand :- )

The guy owns and runs a company worth $10 billion. And he's beholden to no one: it's his company. He has no shareholders to please -- just customers. And he has customers, a winery, hotels, and golf courses across the world.

OK, to wrap this long-winded analysis up then. I think what juices Trump supporters is this larger picture. It's not just what policies Trump would pursue, but also how effective he is likely to be implementing them in a huge bureaucracy while the MSM, Congress, and foreign leaders are trying to block his every move.

It's a YUGE job!! But when you look at the broader scope of what's meant by "presidential leadership", then Trump scores awfully high.