What kind of president will he be? You described him as a "bulldozer" and I quite agree. But I think we have to understand that he will be a bulldozer without the support of media, which he may or may not be able to manipulate, and he will be without the support of the establishment Republican Party and without the support, certainly, of the rats. He will also be without the support of the bureaucracy which is, as John F. Kennedy learned to his sorrow, a very entrenched and powerful body.
So we don't know how effective Trump will be. He may be more or less effective than Ronald Reagan, for example. He might be as effective as Lyndon Johnson which raises the question in what direction will he "bulldoze?" We certainly don't want him being effective in the direction either of Lyndon Johnson or Barack Obama.
Cruz is accused Trump of being a "New Yorker" and I think this fits an entirely. He is an opportunist who may or may not follow up on a few issues that have personal meaning to him because of his limited exposure as a businessman. He might follow through on building the wall (likely), he might try (but no doubt will fail) in physically deporting 11 to 30,000,000 illegal aliens in our midst, he will have real problems generating a consensus on reforming the tax code (because he himself has no clear vision of it as evidenced by his own flip-flopping), he will probably attempt to rebuild the military (and get Republican support to do it ), he says he will repeal and replace Obama care (the repeal part seems easy but that is contingent on the replacement part and that is a conundrum that has not been solved for 100 years so he will likely come up with some sort of mishmash in concert with Congress) he will attempt something dramatic in reform of trade (we must understand this means that one set of interests, such as consumers or software manufacturers, will be either advantaged or harmed and another set, like automobile makers or farmers, will be disadvantaged or helped. This is not an easy matter. Best case: Trump slows down the hollowing out of America; worst-case, Trump precipitates a trade war and a worldwide depression), concerning Iran, Trump might be able to do something if he gets into office before Iran explodes its first bomb (even then his options will be limited because he does not want to engage in foreign wars and world opinion will be solidly against him. If he gets in office after Iran explodes a bomb, he will have to confine himself to containing Iran and that will look very much like the policies of George Bush if not Barack Obama), with respect to China, Trump will attempt to discipline China respecting currency manipulation and will probably gain some sort of sham victory if he does not precipitate a trade war.
The problem for Trump is no different than the problem for any of our 21st-century presidents, the structure of our government has ceased to function. The problem requires systemic reform. No man on horseback short of engaging in tyranny can correct the problem. The culture of Washington is so corrupt, the bureaucracy so entrenched, the special interests so powerful, Congress so pusillanimous, the Supreme Court so politicized that no reform is possible through the electoral process. And that remains so no matter how bombastic Trump gets.
Real reform has to come through article V.
To my knowledge Trump is not supported article V reform and I am very suspicious of the kind of Supreme Court he will appoint. I believe Trump is a narcissist and I believe he is motivated by a few narcissistic impulses but I am not at all convinced that he will advance a coherent conservative plan for the reform of a failing government. Without a coherent reform of taxes, there is no hope of reform for spending, there is no hope of bringing the budget under control and I am extremely skeptical of both his ability to persevere and his clear understanding of the goal lines. If we fail on the budget, the country will fail. I am not at all convinced that the entrenched interests can be "bulldozed."
It is not clear that Trump will attempt to build a conservative political party (or better reform the existing Republican party) as a vehicle for conservative governance, rather I fear he will bulldose as his whim takes him without actually leaving a better place after he is gone on to his next excellent adventure.
