What I like most about Trump is his attitude. He’s a fighter who refuses to back down, and he will never apologize for offending the politically incorrect crowd. He stands in stark contrast to the supine and timorous “leadership” that has been provided for so long by the Boehners, McConnells, Romneys, McCains, Grahams, Corkers, Flakes and so on.
However, I’m not a Trumpet. I’m a Cruzer.
Let’s be fair. Trump deserves credit for making it politically possible for candidates who are actual conservatives to say things which are not politically correct without being crucified for doing so. For example, compared to “blasts from the Trump,” nothing Ben Carson said about Islam sounds particularly radical or extreme. It’s not at all clear that Carson would not have come under severe pressure to apologize if Trump weren’t in this race. Trump has made being “politically incorrect” not only possible but also helpful, and others are benefiting from his actions.
Trump also deserves credit for making the money of a traditional GOP-e candidate irrelevant, or at least much less relevant. Mitt Romney was able to use his money to devastating effect by creating an illusion of inevitability. Jeb Bush’s campaign this year probably counted on being able to do the same thing.
As far as I’m concerned, Trump is running for the wrong office. I wish he were running for mayor of New York City or governor of New York State. He may well be the most conservative man who could realistically be elected to either position, given the makeup of the electorate there.
At the presidential level, conservatives can do better, and I hope we do.