Breaking: First South Carolina Poll after NH (Trump 36 Cruz 19 Rubio 15 Bush 11)

Yeah, but what choice did you ever really have?

Actually, I think Romney, overall, is more conservative than is Trump. I think even Dubya was more conservative than Trump.

I And I think Trump is more likely to morph into something to the left of Bill Clinton than he is to morph into Reagan.

At least as of right now, I don't think he has a fundamental mistrust of government. Quite the opposite, in fact. Real estate developers tend to be much more likely to be looking for government help and assistance than just trying to get government out of the way. At least as compared to most other businesses.

As things stand right now, I wouldn't vote for him in the general election. That could change if he gets more specific on some issues of concern to me.

As things stand right now, I wouldn't vote for him in the general election. That could change if he gets more specific on some issues of concern to me.

You see, this is the problem. It's not about you or me. It is too late for us. It's about our kids and grandkids, and their kids and grandkids. And I'm not even talking about $20 Trillion in debt. I'm talking about what happens when the (D)ummycrats get their 270 electoral vote headstart ( it is currently approximately 250 ).

Try to understand what that means. It makes all elections after that kabuki theater. It also means whatever pet issues "of concern to me" that your favorite candidate managed to alter to your satisfaction, will then be reversed at will.

Healthcare? Ethanol? All moot points. Let's say cruz got into office and changed them to your satisfaction. Then the (D)ummycrats achieve their 270 votes, then everything you wasted your time fretting over gets changed to their liking, forever.

There is no other issue except for thwarting Illegal Alien, Amnesty, Naturalization with some kind of moratorium. The ones here are already multiplying and bringing in families even if it stopped today. This is an all hands on deck issue now, no time for anything else. Once again, if we fail, they will achieve an electoral victory before any election ever occurs. If this is to be stopped, it is now or never.

Any diversions from the task at hand is tantamount to complaining about the selection of tunes the band is playing on the deck of the Titanic.

You see, this is the problem. It's not about you or me.

That's nice, except I didn't say it was about me. I said it was about issues of concern to me, and the issues that concern me relate to my kids. I'm afraid Trump will make things worse rather than better.

I see Trump as "good" on two issues - immigration, and taxes. The problem with his immigration position is that it seems both vague in the details, and overpromising. I do not believe Congress will enact what he is promising, and so we'll have to settle for something less. Which is okay, except that the "less" I expect we'll have to settle for won't be that much better than what other candidates are promising.

I like him on taxes, but the problem is that I really don't like the rest of the policies he's described. I think his opposition to entitlement reform is an absolute disaster for my kids. His promise that "everyone will be covered" on health care is going to be expensive as well, and I'm not keen on a Republican endorsing a fourth entitlement program. And I think a 45% tariff on Chinese goods is nuts, and would start a series of events that might well send us into a depression.

To me, Trump is the political equivalent of a one night stand. A smoking hot girl who is a lot of fun at first, but when you stop and think about her, marrying her would be nuts.

I think you are under a major misconception. Both Ted Cruz & I, and many at Free Republic are able to explain a complex Conservative philosophy, as well as the clear intentions of the Founding Fathers, in terms for which the word merchants on the Left have no effective answer. We have trained ourselves to that purpose, because we saw the need in our personal dealings with the Leftists in Academia. (I went to Oberlin College for my four year undergraduate degree, precisely to make certain that I could dismantle the best verbal propagandists on the Left.)

There is nothing in that, or in anyone else, which demonstrates higher intelligence than someone who did not train themselves in that direction; but, rather, applied his brain in a somewhat different direction.

That Donald Trump is highly intelligent is not just indicated by his success, thus far, in this campaign--despite a lynch mob mentality among his detractors. A better indication is in his success in building beautiful buildings--the direction that he has applied himself in, prior to this campaign.

And that leads to another point, which is not so well understood. Trump as a builder, is almost an implied metaphor--if you would try verbally to understand him--for a sound Conservative. Builders of tall buildings apply the basic Conservative approach to social values; they build things on a firm foundation--that is the good ones do--step by step. The Founding Fathers built the heritage, we seek to preserve, in the same way; step by step, on a firm foundation.

The contrast is with the Left who are always trying to tear down the foundation, and start from scratch--not on anything grounded in human experience, but on cloud-borne theories. (For a look at the American approach for building a political society: America--Grounded on Experience & Reason.)

Trump may not be a debater, in the academic sense. Yet his thinking is inherently based on experience & reason. He has lived the basis of our best verbal arguments.

Either Trump or Cruz could be a great President. We need to get them back to working together. They really do complement each other, both talent and appeal wise.

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