Thank you for your civil and thoughtful reply.
I agree that many of the current candidates would not have known the names of the leaders of all of the groups, etc. Hewitt had Fiorina on later and asked the same questions and she did fairly well, better than Trump. But what I liked about her answer was her willingness to admit where her knowledge was lacking, when she wasn’t sure about a piece of information. And even though she might not have know the names of the obscure players, she knew the major players and had a clear understanding of the intents of the radical Islamists and the challenges we face in the region.
That does not mean I am in the Carly camp. My first choice is Ted. And just knowing about the issues in the Middle East does not make one the preferred candidate - I am sure Graham knows all the players, and I would not vote for him for many other reasons. But asking a candidate questions to determine what they know about the subject should not be considered a “gotcha” question. If he was asked who the leader of Micronesia was, for example, THAT would be a “gotcha” question. :-)
To answer your question, no, I am not surprised that so many people have flocked to Trump’s straight-talking, anti illegal rhetoric. After all of the lies we have been told by the GOPe, I certainly understand the attraction of someone who says what we want to hear in a direct and unapologetic way.
But I am surprised that so many conservatives are willingly ignoring or explaining away things he has said or done that would eliminate other candidates from consideration - and even attack other conservatives that bring those things up as “trolls”. That concerns me more than anything else. I understand the people that acknowledge his past, but choose to support him anyway. I don’t understand those who want to act as though his past has no relevance to how he might act as president, and attack anyone who dares the suggest it might.
My first vote was for Jimmy Carter...My second vote was for Ron Reagan...So your argument has no credibility with me...
We know the political position of every candidate up there...The worst Trump could do if he is pulling the wool over our eyes is that he'd resort to taking up the policies and positions of those others running...What do we have to lose by supporting Trump???
I think some of us are more interested in the Big Picture now, not some remark made 10 to 15 years ago. We are also uninterested in nit picking which some conservatives do as bad as liberals. I remember that Harry Truman knew NOTHING about the Atomic Bomb but he is the one to drop it on japan after the death of Roosevelt. He did just fine when the time came and I am sure Trump will do just fine whatever history dishes up.
As I thought, you’re rebuttal would be strong.
I admit, thinking that someone change SO MANY ways of thinking in the span of several years is hard to swallow.
Glaringly, his going after Romney for being too hard on illegals and now wanting wholesale deportation (an event I think is good but would amount to riots not seen since the 60s or worse)is odd, to say the least.
I admit, I might have kept my mouth shut about secretly supporting Trump after a few weeks of hearing him speak, but when people who have been on this board for a while did, I jumped in. Typical human :)
Have heard Fiorina did well with those questions! That stupid speech about muslim culture after 9/11 was dumb, but that can be said of a number of Trump’s antics.
It boils down to I am desperate. Would a good president help? A little, I guess. He’s not going to cut spending, just slow down the rate. We are WAY past that.
Most wont have the courage (besides Cruz, and that 500% h1b increase really irks me, but it’s about the only issue i have with him) to roll back the insanity with gay marriage and other sick nonsense.
So you get desperate for a madman with a plan. Many of us think it takes someone a little insane at this point to take back our country.
Or it’s lost.
You did make me realize that it is early, and one cant be blinded to their candidate’s inadequacies. I like Trump and Cruz, and I will see which way the winds blow as time moves forward, one of the few things we can count on happening with certainty.