I have been on FR since 1998.
I am an avid Ted Cruz supporter, and did all I could to help him achieve the primary victory he had in Idaho, which is where I have lived for the past 20 years. Originally, I am a native Texan.
The Donald Trump phenomenon is a direct result of the GOPe’s behavior over the last 15 or more years, and of Trump’s ability to tie into that anger and frustration.
despite what he may have done in the past, if you go and read his proposals in detail, if those things are enacted, they would be good for America.
Read my
Donald Trump Phenomenon
http://www.jeffhead.com/Trump-Phenom.htm
and, My Open Letter to Mitt Romney
http://www.jeffhead.com/Mitt-Letter.htm
The fact is that people believe that Donald trump, irrespective of all else, including his past, will actually do the things he says.
And if he will, it will be good for our country.
If Trump was just promising things he had no intention of enacting, he would not have brought Sessions on to his campaign as an adviser and point man on illegal immigration, nor Carson as adviser and point man on getting rid of bamstercare.
Two examples (of many) of just how serious he is.
I once preferred Cruz, and now prefer Trump. There are good solid reasons for that change, and I wouldn't call them "populist".
Katwoman, you should rethink, along with other sane Cruz supporters such as Jeff. This nomination is virtually all over but the shouting, and if Cruz is smart, he will bargain for a position at the table with Trump, rather than side with the traitorous elites of the GOP.
“The fact is that people believe that Donald trump, irrespective of all else, including his past, will actually do the things he says. And if he will, it will be good for our country.”
Also an Idaho transplant twenty some years ago...
And I firmly believe Trump will do just just what he says... To not do so would severely diminish his “brand” and negatively impact his family empire.
This, of course, is the problem. Will Trump do what he says, or is he running a ponzi scheme. No one knows. The one good thing about Trump's campaign is that it has a real chance of destroying the corrupt Republican Party apparatus. This is distinctive different from the conservative philosophy that gave legs to the modern Republican Party. The careerist politicans have abandoned that years ago, except for election year polemics. I don't think that Trump is much better than the career Republican politicians, he's just different.
Thanks, I’ll pass your Trump link around.
Well said Jeff, yet again.
I hoped that a Trump / Cruz ticket might evolve, especially between two smart guys.
But, I think the bridge might be broken if not burnt.
I share and amplify your sentiments, Jeff, with a similar long view.
I find it disturbing that Cruz, with his conservative bonafides, is attacked ruthlessly here. Cruz has such solid credentials, and is so brilliant, such a great debater, and has such a solid grasp of the issues, I never would have guessed he would be derided to the degree seen here at FR. He’s the only known, true conservative in the race, and it’s been that way since the beginning of the race.
I’m not comfortable with all the craven attacks on Trump, either.
Trump is a wild card, the Joker in the deck. He has no voting record, not having been in politics. He’s supported Dems in the past, but he has the convenient excuse of having needed to spread his money around to both sides to grease the wheels of business. So he has a built-in excuse for his lack of consistency. And he never seems to have a detailed knowledge of the issues.
But I will give credit to Donald Trump for shaking up the entire paradigm of the presidential election cycle. Before, the media could find a tiny politically incorrect statement a Republican has made, then amplify it to embarrass the candidate, then force the other Repubs to go on-record to denounce the “gaffe” by their competitor, putting more distance and animosity between the candidates. All the while ignoring every Democrat’s flubs (how else could Joe Biden have survived?).
This time is different, thanks to Trump. The media is baffled by him, and so are all the prominent political pundits. Thanks to Trump, all the Republican candidates are willing to fight back — something Democrats never have to do, since they are never attacked by the sympathetic media. Republicans don’t have to be ashamed of conservatism, or put up with media abuse. Trump has changed the rules. He speaks spontaneously, and wins. He gets free media play in gross disproportion to his opponents. The conventional thinking is, after the Citizens United case only big money can win elections — but Jeb! and his superpac team spent over 2 thousand dollars per vote and lost. Meanwhile Trump gets free publicity and sweeps the elections, exactly the opposite of the outcome sought by the liberal media. He has confronted, violated, broken, and cast aside the conventional model of political campaigns.
We don’t have to worry about Trump choking in the debate with Hillary (if she survives her scandals that long), because he will attack. He won’t pull his punches. He won’t shy away from mention of Benghazi, or let Candy Crowley rush in to rescue her candidate (like she did for Obama). Her recent absurd quotes will haunt her (’we didn’t lose one person in Libya’). And she’d better not even THINK about bringing up the ‘war on women’. There are plenty of quotes and actions from her to destroy her credibility there.
Yes, I’m a Cruz supporter, and he still could get the nomination. But I think Trump COULD make a good president, and the wild card is an obviously better choice than ANY Democrat, including Hilary the corrupticrat or Bernie the commie.
So if Trump wins fairly, or if the GOPe tries to rob him, I will support him. He will be the most (likely) conservative candidate who can win.
That one small word that I get hung up on when it comes to Trump. God bless you Jeff Head.
Donald trump is an opportunistic democrat that has expressed a desire to run for President in the past and has stated that if he did he would run as a Republican because they’re stupid. He’s apparently right about that. The gop-e voting with and funding the democrat agenda while going to war and attempting to crush their Conservative base, while NOT being Conservative and NOT doing what they were elected to do has given Trump the opportunity to run and probably win the Presidency while proving that Republicans are indeed stupid. I say that as a Conservative Republican who doesn’t supports the GOP-e and who will NOT support Trump, any other democrat or any RINO.
“And if he will [do what he says he will do], it will be good for our country.”
Bears repeating.
I do agree with you here.
I think the question many of us have is the little word "if"... If Donald Trump does what he says on his website that will be good. If he does not , well I won't even go there. In any event just wanted you to know how much I appreciate your tone in comments.
... and yes I too am a avid Cruz supporter.
I have also supported Cruz but I agree with your assessment and will have no problem supporting Trump I’m just shocked at the bitter hatred between the two camps on FR.
I have always seen Dims as angry, bitter and vitriolic, lately I’d have to say that about many on FR.
Jeff, you’ve always been such a voice of reason and substance. We all have our favorites. Mine was Carson. Last time around it was Herman Cain. Both brought experience of a different kind and a positive outlook. That’s what I want back. I’ve been here since 2004 (right after Rathergate) So many here have real gifts. the discussions here have kept me going for over a decade and I have learned much. That is something worth saving.
I don’t believe that trump will actually do what he says. He is saying things to get elected. Remember what he said about “negotiating?” “Always start out tough and then negotiate down?” Border thing, etc., yeah, we will “make deals.”
FR has become trump republic and the general attitude of trump supporters here against people with whom they don’t agree represents trump’s attitude itself.
The fact is that people believe that Donald trump, irrespective of all else, including his past, will actually do the things he says.
And if he will, it will be good for our country.
Which is silly. Trump is a professional salesman and dealmaker who brags about how he basically screws over people on deals, including using bankruptcy to screw the creditors. Trump has said more and more with each passing day that he is going to change who he is and what his positions are after winning the primary and after being elected, and that he was just saying what he needed to at any given time to win people over, not because he meant it.
It's said to see people who believe in the conservative movement being suckered in by a very disingenuous, self-serving, conniving character like Trump.
....”The fact is that people ‘believe’ that Donald trump.... will actually do the things he says.”.......
I don’t believe that he will, he’s a deal maker and ALWAYS that which is in his own favor first and foremost. He’ll be ‘dealing’ with the same bunch the rest have, he won’t be turning the spigot off to the Elites....he’ll just use it to have his way and nobody knows what that will be......not to mention line the pockets of the crony capitalist who will be funding his run against Hillary.....Oligarchy ahead IMO. Just moving the chairs on the deck.
Thank you for your interesting POV from an always-respected FReeper.
I'm a Cruz supporter, myself. If Trump, as you predict, performs pro bono publico without any particular commitment to Originalism, he might yet do "good things" for the country, which if they include battling the international NWO plutocratic movement and the old Communist International which has now given us two _Residents, will be very, very good for us.
One would hope that, if Trump does win the nomination and the White Hut, his OJT will make a convinced Constitutionalist out of him, as he discovers how divided government works against the Socialist conspiracy. Which, after all, is maximally centrist, stifling, bloodthirsty, lobotomizing, and a few other unpleasant and unhelpful things.
As a final note, I would tend to place Trump among the National Greatness Republicans of the past, who were McKinleyites or e-GOP (in modern terms) elitists, in which the "NG" theme is attenuated and the "NWO" theme, under the Bushes, has been accentuated. McKinleyism combined expansive national mercantilist economics with antisyndicalism (union-busting), hard money (the "Cross of Gold"), marketarian solutions and freedom (and crony capitalism), and a big Navy.