Posted on 01/30/2016 12:36:45 PM PST by Kaslin
It has been fashionable the last two weeks to pen articles attacking Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican Party nomination for President. "He's not a true conservative." "He's not Ronald Reagan," they said. The jury's still out on whether or not he's a true conservative, but we can agree that he is not Ronald Reagan.
I would say he is more like Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had been elected to Congress as a member of the Whig Party, but he parted company with the Whigs and joined the Republicans, when the Whig leaders wouldn't take a stand on the biggest issue of the day--slavery. The country's whole future hung on the issue of slavery. Lincoln was against it, but the Whigs didn't want to ruffle the feathers of pro-slavery voters. Lincoln became President, won the Civil War, and ended that barbaric practice. The Whig Party disappeared from the national stage and became a paragraph in history books. You can almost hear the Whig poobahs saying about Lincoln, "He's not a true conservative. He flip-flopped on the tariff issue." Small minds, small issues.
Similarly, Donald Trump took a stand on the big issue of our day--immigration--coming out strongly in favor of securing the border and deporting illegal aliens, while the Republican leadership and the other candidates in the race for President (with maybe only one exception) talked about "immigration reform." They don't want to ruffle the feathers of "Latino voters;" while Trump wants to save America. Immediately, Trump jolted into the lead in the race and has stayed there ever since, in spite of being rude, bombastic, and obnoxious. By contrast, Marco Rubio, arguably the most likable guy in the pack, will never rise much above 15% in the polls because he is on the wrong side of this issue. Unless Rubio comes out and says, "to hell with the so-called Latino vote, I'm gonna deport every last one of the illegal aliens," he will stay in the pack fighting for second or third place twenty points behind Trump.
The media pundits don't get it, though. They offer up all kinds of explanations for Trump's success that have nothing to do with the issue of immigration: It's his simple sentences. It's his rudeness and bruskness. It's his hair. He's an outsider. The people who support him are stupid (40% of Republicans!).
Some critics argue that Trump was a liberal Democrat until recently and we cannot trust him to keep any of his promises on immigration, or anything else. The answer to that is that lots of Republicans were elected as Tea Party candidates a few years ago, yet they ended up supporting the big-government-open-borders policies of the Obama administration once they got into office. Why should we trust anyone? Maybe all of the candidates are lying. In which case, Trump is no better or worse than the others. But, if he is telling the truth and he ends up keeping his promises, since he is the only one with a plan to reverse the illegal immigration problem, shouldn't we put our support behind him?
Going back to the Ronald Reagan comparison, Mark Steyn noted rightly that Reagan could not get elected governor of California today. The demographics have changed so much that the state is now solidly left. America is going in the same direction. With more and more people coming into the country with different ideas about work, liberty, the rule of law, morality--it will be hard to elect anyone who is not pandering to them, promising more subsidies, more government, more corruption.
With this election the country stands at a crossroads--do we keep going in the same direction--the one leading over the cliff--or do we change direction? Many people believe Trump will lead the country in the right direction. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. But it is certain that most of the other candidates will not.
And he’ll turn liberal again. Count on it.
But it wasn’t the issue of slavery that sparked the war. The concern of slavery was later used to justify the tremendous suffering and loss of life.
Wrong: Here's a writer who fell for him, just like you did
I’m not sure he is trustworthy.
I sure loved when he shined light on the rapist and murderer illegal aliens.
I wish he’d go back to that rather than obsessing on Ted Cruz and praising Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
Either of them is preferable to anything the RATs have to offer.
Nobody ever changes his mind, right? Or subordinates his own preferences to those he serves?
A fear driven response. A valid one because he has changed his mind on some issues we hold dear. May I posit that a lot of people have also done so, on many things over the course of their years. Personally, I converted to Catholiscm early in my 3rd decade. Some of us learned things the hard way at times. However, once we arrive a good side for ourselves most usually don't go back. It's kind of the 'been there done that' knowledge that comes with experience. IMO.
Going back to the article if we may, the "issue of the day" is immigration. Can I ask your opinion on this key part. It relates to your fear of him turning on a dime.
Maybe he will, maybe he won't. But it is certain that most of the other candidates will not.
“if you check out Trump’s 40 year career, he always does what he says he will.”
Therein lies the problem. In his book “The America We Deserve,” Trump pushed hard for universal health care. As to how the country might achieve universal coverage, Trump focused on a Canadian-style, single-payer plan. That’s what he wants for this country. Are you OK with that?
“Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. But it is certain that most of the other candidates will not.”
As I wrote, I agree with the article and the above sentence is absolutely correct.
Nobody ever changes his mind, right? Or subordinates his own preferences to those he serves?
Anyone else who does that is labeled a flip-flopper. But somehow it’s just different with Trump, is it?
“That’s why I’m saying what I’m saying.
He will turn on a dime.”
Trump can be counted on to make the decisions that will best serve his own interests.
Only if he (or whoever) flops back again is he a flip-flopper.
Thx. I missed that before I hit your earlier post. Gotta throw my Trump bump in. Take care. Tttt.
And nothing would serve his interests better than a stronger, freer, more prosperous America! So I can live with him doing well.
Unless he decides another more lucrative interest takes precedence.
“Only if he (or whoever) flops back again is he a flip-flopper.”
Yes... absolutely. Especially those who flip back and forth on party affiliations.
Ok. Good. In the case of this article's premise his own interests coincide with mine. The times he addresses other issues we have to prepare to be ready to discuss and if necessary hold him or any one else to account. If Republican's form the base of Donald's election win, and he has any coattails whatsoever, he will listen. It's one of his greatest traits IMO.
And yet, Lincoln ended slavery. So in essence, doing the right thing is superior to saying the right things ala a "real conservative".
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