As it stands right now, Trump is pretty much running on one issue and it is an issue that has been around for decades.
From a practical standpoint, getting an amendment passed recognizing traditional marriage would be FAR EASIER than building a wall at the Mexican border and deporting all of the illegals.
Look at the makeup of the Supreme Court and their decisions over the past decade, do you think that there's a chance in hell that they would rule that anchor babies aren't citizens under the 14th Amendment? Then there are property issues, many illegals now own property in the US and, while they may be here illegally, the property was acquired legally. Is there a plan to deal with that? I don't support amnesty and I never will; we can certainly build a wall to keep more out, but I don't think that there's any way to get rid of the majority of those that are here.
What people need to be made aware of is the two-fold role that abortion has played in this:
1. America has a manual labor shortage that simply didn't exist four decades ago. It's not that the illegals are doing the jobs that Americans won't do, it's that they're doing the jobs that there aren't enough Americans to do. Talk to the owner of any construction company, there are many jobs (jobs that pay pretty well) that it is impossible to hire Americans for. Go back in history, the problems with illegal aliens began roughly a decade after Roe v. Wade and two decades after the Sexual Revolution began. There was a demand for labor and the illegals came and met the demand.
2. Social Security and Medicare are classic Ponzi schemes; however, most people fail to understand that Ponzi schemes WILL WORK as long as there is a steadily expanding pool of new people to pay into it. Until the 1970s we had that, but with the Sexual Revolution and abortion the population growth began to drop drastically. Now, the illegal aliens filled the gap in the labor pool, but they're paid under the table and don't pay any payroll tax. That's the elephant in the room that none of the politicians will talk about, we need more people to fund the Ponzi schemes.
The real problem with the presidential race is that the Bush family and the GOPe have decimated conservatism over the past quarter century, we have no bench to speak of. GWB didn't have a single person in his administration who could run for president. Trump never would have entered the race if there was a strong pool of candidates, for that matter Cruz probably wouldn't have either (Cruz has the knowledge and he's a real conservative, but he isn't perceived as having the experience).
The best thing the GOP has going for it right now is that Hillary is imploding and anyone can beat Biden. The most critical thing for the GOP is to get Jeb, Christie and Rand Paul out of the race.
The problem with Trump is that he has changed positions over the last 2 decades on life, on marriage, on assault weapons, and a few other issues that don’t come to mind right now. He’s strong on defense, strong on homeland security, strong on fiscal sanity, strong on American exceptionalism.
He also doesn’t need to go to the daddy warbucks of our day to fund his campaign, thereby making secret deals that don’t become evident until after an election. That is part of the reason people believe that with Trump ‘what you see is what you get.’
What they see has some rough edges, and there’s a trust factor involving some of his conversions, but how is that different than other candidates like Romney, McCain, Dole, etc., over the years.
Moreover, the GOP has failed. They have lied. They have cowered, manipulated, capitulated, and betrayed. Why in the world would any sane person support them again if there’s a decent alternative?
In a reality based world, Cruz did not have the firepower to overcome the Bush/media coalition. Trump does. And if Cruz is the VP, then Cruz becomes the heir apparent.
1. America has a manual labor shortage that simply didn't exist four decades ago. It's not that the illegals are doing the jobs that Americans won't do, it's that they're doing the jobs that there aren't enough Americans to do. Talk to the owner of any construction company, there are many jobs (jobs that pay pretty well) that it is impossible to hire Americans for. Go back in history, the problems with illegal aliens began roughly a decade after Roe v. Wade and two decades after the Sexual Revolution began. There was a demand for labor and the illegals came and met the demand.
I want to thank you for one of the all time great posts on FR that I've seen. Not only do you hit on a reality so many talk show hosts and Freepers want to deny (talk to people who actually HIRE for a living.....) a reality that Ive been flamed for on this site for merely pointing it out - but you opened my eyes to the tie between abortion and the labor shortage. I've understood the abortion population issue and housing, for example, but never connected these dots. Thank you for that. What an amazing perspective. Our illegal situation is nothing but the product of supply and demand - PLUS - a porous border for 70 years - AND made worse by abortion depleted supply.