I haven’t had a favorite in the race up to this point because I felt many were well-qualified and would have considered it perfectly acceptable supporting any of them.
That was when I considered Trump a joke.
Now I’m seeing Trump as a threat to the conservative cause. To some, that may be a good thing. To me, it’s a very dangerous thing that so many are willing to follow him to a destination that not one of them can define; except that it’s going to be “GREAT”.
I thought it was bad that the Dems were willing to support an apparition like Obama. Now I’m seeing it on my side.
And I’m left wondering if I’m on a side anymore.
Trump is winning this race for a simple reason, and the GOP has no one to blame but themselves for it. Had they not been selling America down the drain for the past several decades Trump would likely never been more than a joke... but there are forces at play here as I have stated many places.
First, Trump has the X factor, no other player on the Republican side has it, Christie was the only other player who had it in the republican field... so that’s a huge strike against just the pragmatic chances of any other republican winning.... However the X factor alone does not guarantee you a win. IF that’s all Trump had, he’d not be enjoying the success he is.
Second, Trump has a simple concise and easy message, a message that one would think should be a GIVEN for any politician.... I will put America First. Period. The GOP and their Neocon Sycophants have not put America first in decades... they work for their money men and no one else, the rest be screwed. The “conservative” stand on free trade has always been repugnant and destructive.. but hey who cares if we destroy our manufacturing base and the peoples lives that go with it, as long as our backers put a few more billions in their back pockets and pass a few bucks back to the GOP its all good. The Iraq war was a disaster, it left our military in a shambles and the middle east a wreck... But hey, who cares, not our kids losing limbs or leaving our grandkids without moms or dads.
That’s it. Cruz out there arguing he’s the real conservative is not going to win. You can only have an election centered around liberal v conservative if the electorate believes that both sides are at their core putting Americas best interests first. At this point the electorate no longer believes this, so to try to argue this guys a real conservative or more conservative, or more liberal is a stupid argument to be making because it won’t win you anything. Doesn’t matter which party controls the white house, or the ideology, the nation continues to be sold down the tubes, and people are sick of it. Cruz tactically is trying to win using an argument that never works, even in more traditional times. No one, no one has ever won an primary or national election by simply saying I’m the most conservative guy, even Reagan wasn’t foolish enough to think he could win simply by giving that as an argument.
Trump is winning and short of the establishment voting bloc coalescing around someone soon and not fragmenting in any major way toward Trump, he’s not only on a path to win the nomination, but the White House as well, and by a wide margin.
If someone you view as a traditional conservative wants to win, they have to do be willing to accept that the GOP has made some massive mistakes, and not just “in failing to oppose Obama”.. which they have, but that in and of itself is not enough... they have to be willing to admit that they have made major mistakes on Economic Policy, Foreign Policy and that they have ignored the electorate. Then and only then do they have a chance... if they are not willing to do that, they aren’t going to win. Even if they do that, there is no guarantee they will win, but its the only way they have any chance of having the electorate remotely give them a shot.
They won’t do that however, because their money men won’t let them, and it requires them to go against stupid dogma that has found its way into modern “conservatism” that isn’t conservative at all. When you make a mistake you have to learn from it, the american people have learned that regardless of which party wins, they get screwed, they’ve had enough...... GOP is unwilling to be honest and admit they have policy stands that have been proven to be destructive... They want to win, they have to own up to them, and then follow through on putting America first.
Trump may be a disaster as a President, or he may be quite competent... who knows, but what the electorate is clearly telling both parties quite clearly is, WE DON’T BELIEVE YOU!, WE DON’T TRUST YOU!, WE AREN’T GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!. THIS IS OUR COUNTRY, AND WE AREN’T PUTTING UP WITH YOUR CRAP ANY LONGER.
Like it or not, that’s what is going on this election cycle, and the fact that neither party can adapt to this reality shows you just how completely owned they are by a few handfuls of donors.