The Conservative Divide Over Donald Trump
A battle for the soul of the right.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the Republican side of the 2016 election has been the sharp divide among conservatives over Donald Trump. People tend to fall into one of three camps; love him, hate him or will support him if he’s the nominee.
On one side, you’ve got multiple conservative writers and thinkers who insist Trump isn’t a conservative at all, as we saw with the special edition of National Review.
On the other side, you have people like Sean Hannity of FOX News, Jim Hoft of the Gateway Pundit and John Nolte of Breitbart, all conservatives who appear enthusiastic about Trump’s rise.
Sean Hannity even devoted his entire show to a one on one town hall style interview with Donald Trump in Las Vegas last night. Trump’s conservative credentials came up right away.
The FOX News Insider reports:
Trump: Hard to Forgive ‘All of the Lies’ by Other GOP Candidates
Hours before the Nevada caucus, Donald Trump sat down with Sean Hannity for a wide-ranging, hour-long interview in front of a live audience.
Check out highlights as we update this post.
Trump weighed in on whether he could see himself getting along with fellow Republican candidates after all of the attacks being hurled at him on the campaign trail.
He said that, not being a politician, it would be difficult to forgive “all of the lies and misrepresentations” that were said about him and referred to a Cruz ad being aired in Nevada about Trump and federal land – “it’s like where do they come up with these ideas?”
Trump explained to Sean how he evolved from someone holding liberal positions into a “common sense conservative,” comparing the trajectory of his beliefs to Ronald Reagan. He said that Reagan “wasn’t the most Conservative President, but he evolved into a Republican that was fairly conservative.”
Trump said that he’s “as conservative as can be” on issues like military and veterans, getting rid of “Common Core” and dismantling Obamacare.
Her’s a clip where Trump addresses the issue:
You can watch more clips here.
To further illustrate the divide, here’s a column conservative writer and radio host Erick Erickson published yesterday at The Resurgent:
I Will Not Vote For Donald Trump. Ever.
When I wrote in National Review that I was against Donald Trump, I said and have maintained since his entry into the race that if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, I would support him. No longer.
Donald Trump believes the federal government should fund Planned Parenthood. Donald Trump believes there are good things the child killers do. What is most damning is how so many are willing to be compromised by Donald Trump.
For eight years the conservative movement compromised itself as a wing of George W. Bush’s Republican Party. The movement became ill defined and conservative became a synonym with Republican.
Already we are seeing pastors and religious leaders compromising their integrity to vote for Donald Trump. Jerry Falwell, Jr. has joined the whores of Moloch, defending Trump’s Planned Parenthood statement on Twitter. Falwell presides over an institution that expels students who have abortions, but is willing to give positive lip service to Trump saying there are good things Planned Parenthood does.
If Trump doesn’t win the nomination, none of this will matter.
If he does, and right now it’s looking like he could, we’ll see more battles on the right over what it means to be a conservative.
Featured image via FOX News video.
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Comments
Not taking a stand on Trump either way here, but is anyone who is questioning the Conservatism of Donald Trump aware of Mark Kirk, the junior senator from Illinois?
I’ve read that he wants to align with Dems and get another far-left Supreme Court Justice spun up before the election. Other than that, I hadn’t heard of him.
Kirk voted to keep funding PP. Wouldn’t endorse Oberweis over his good friend Sack-Of-Durbin.
I guess you could say he’s everything that Trump allegedly is.
Yet there’s no Panic In The Streets over Kirk, who’s being blessed by the GOPe for the upcoming election (which he’s certain to lose).
Nobody claims that Kirk is conservative, and nobody dreams of supporting him for president. For a senator from Illinois he’s the best that can be had.
You had me up to “the best that can be had” 🙂
Trump fans bizarrely insist that he’s the one and only answer to the problem of Republicans who are insufficiently conservative — even though Trump is the only GOP candidate who:
* has mostly helped Democrats get elected
* has apparently never voted in a Republican primary
* thought Obama had a “deep understanding” of economics
* thought Bill de Blasio would be a great mayor
* heartily praised the wisdom and virtue of Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton
* said the economy does better under Democrats
* says that Republicans are eeevil even to think about restructuring Social Security
* doesn’t understand the real cause of the banking crisis
* parroted the loony left on “Bush lied, people died.”
Whether or not one believes that Trump has made a sincere, late-life conversion to solid, thoroughgoing conservatism (which is highly dubious), it does not follow that someone who has been so wrong for so long is the one to save us from the sins of the people he himself has promoted until recently.
Expectations have always been low on Kirk.
It’s weak praise, but Kirk is certainly much better than the mobbed up hoops playing pal of Obama he narrowly beat in the off year election of 2010. Kirk will also prove to be better than the Democrat who is almost certain to beat him in Novermber, Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth.
Conservative Peter Fitzgerald was a real fluke. There had been incredibly high expectations for Chicago career politician Carol Moseley Braun when she won in 1992, a presidential election year. CMB couldn’t begin to live up to tose expectations. That opened the door for Fitzgerald to sneak in during the 1998 off year election. He then realized he could not win in 2004 and declined to run for reelection.
I lived in Illinois at the time. Democrat leaning voters told me that they didn’t like Fitzpatrick on most issues, but at least they didn’t cringe at how ill prepared he was when he spoke, the way CMB made them cringe.
Heh. A highly speculative and basically unsupported theory of why the GOPe was not able to gin up resistance to Trump in time.
Basically, it’s because they are stupid. And they believed leftie political scientists. Sounds … consistent with what we know about the GOPe!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/02/23/my-very-peculiar-and-speculative-theory-of-why-the-gop-has-not-stopped-donald-trump/
Your citation is to the Washington Post, which is dedicated to the Democrats. So, take the very unkind representation of all things Republican with a grain of salt.
Good point, of course.
The article is a guest editorial by Drezner. He’s far less leftie than a lot of the WaPo folks.
Conservative voters don’t like change. I get it.
But the country has changed significantly because of bad Republican policies like the Reagan amnesty the Bush tax cuts. The Reagan amnesty turned many solid Republican states into solid democrat states forever, and the Bush tax cuts created “the 47%” of people who receive benefits far in excess of what they pay in taxes.
Re-running the Reagan/Bush/W/Romney playbook only gets you a slight chance to win in a squeaker election.
So things need to change.
http://www.steynonline.com/7441/the-math-and-the-map
In other words, you’re going with the “He can win” principle — which of course the Trump fans regard as a treacherous sellout of principles when it’s used in favor of anyone not-Trump.
Xlnt article, thanks for posting.
I’ll agree with everything you said but can’t bring myself to criticize Ron. Though not perfect he had to deal with an all-Dem world and I think he got all he could. Plus, I esteem him personally because he enabled me to walk away from being a leftie.
A snip from the article:
“The Republican Party has spent a generation rewarding failure: Mike Murphy, who blew through 100 million bucks to get Jeb to 2.8 per cent in Iowa, will nevertheless walk away from yet another floppo campaign with “a minimum of $14 million’. No one loses as expensively as Republicans.”
Seems like the only thing the GOPe can conserve is Democrat victories. It’s always a one way street, always to the left.
With few exceptions the ratchet turns one way.
“People tend to fall into one of three camps; love him, hate him or will support him if he’s the nominee.”
Let’s be precise here. People fall into these three sections on the spectrum.
1. Constitutionalists + Classical Liberals : Relies on their knowledge and appreciation of Constitution and principles of Liberty as their guide to select candidates.
Sees the individual citizen and not elected leaders as agents of change. Not into political celebrities.
Believes America is Great as long as the original articles and Madisonian amendments of the Constitution are held to be Great.
2. Conservatives : Relies on their opposition to one or two Left-wing policies. Picks candidates based on 100% fit on single or two issues. Not likely to be familiar with or care about philosophical debates about the Constitution.
Sees the Party as agents of change. Has degrees of #1 and #3 (below).
Believes America is Great as long the Republican Party is in power.
3. Nationalists : Relies on a mix of national pride, perpetual cynicism, despair and frustration to pick their candidate.
Sees a charismatic leader (anyone) as an agent of change.
Believes America is Great as long as it’s Leaders are Great.
I’m firmly in the classical liberal/constitutionalist camp. Not going to vote for Trump. I’ll be voting for Cruz in the primary and be damned if I’ll vote for anyone else in the general. He ain’t perfect, but he’s not a toupeed (sp?) demagogue nor a serial liar. Rubio is approaching clintonesque levels of dissembling.
So you want Hillary making the next 3 appointments to supreme court. Very …
It would be no different than what Trump would nominate.
What would be deliciously entertaining would be to watch a ‘pub senate refuse to give a vote on a Trump nominee because he or she is a libtard.
Trump will never get my vote, not in a general election; never, ever. I will write in a true conservative who understands the constitution.
Trump is never going to do the stuff he said he is going to do. He’s a carpetbagger.
I have seen the subtle shift at FNC from overtly going after Trump and literally saying he will never survive to now saying that he is the probable nominee and are now saying positive things about him. They are doing what all msm do and that is report via omission. They simply no longer report the horrible things that Trump says or does. Oh they report on normal back and forth but not on the things that would crush a normal “Conservative” candidate. On Saturday when Trump went off on GWB and called him a liar over the WMD in Iraq there was hardly a peep out of any of them. But they always seem to show all of his lies and slurs at the other two candidates that matter. And an endorsement by Code Pink! That would actually be the kiss of death for a normal person. I no longer watch FNC or any other cable news programs.
I saw hannity fawn all over trump, trump NEVER answered any of the questions.
It’s a sad development for our once great republic.
trump must use a Ouija board to decide his position on any issue at any particular time and changes it minute to minute.
I used to have Hannity’s radio show on sometimes, even though he’s not the brightest bulb. But I turned it off permanently when he showed a pattern of quickly shooting down the most rational, fact-based criticism of Trump. He’ll say things like “But I’ve talked to him and he tells me he’s really sincere about changing his mind.”
It seems obvious that Hannity puts a high priority on staying pals with Trump. It must do something for his ego.
I believe that FOX is in the tank for Trump and I’m sorry to see it. What bothers me is that Hannity would do a whole hour with Trump on the eve of an election. That to me seems rather unfair when you consider how seldom Cruz gets on the channel. He was Bill O and though he held his own Bill seldom if ever allowed him a complete sentence. Newt was on Fox and Friends on Monday and they got very upset when he mentioned that Trump was created by Fox and Friends and that no other candidate could call in and get on the air, nor could they get all the free air time the other shows give him. Isn’t there something about having to give equal time or is that only in the general? One thing about this election we Constitutional Conservatives are beginning to see who their true friends are.
I think FOX is in the tank for Rubio, after having to give up on Jeb. Everything they’ve done has been to try and destroy not only Trump, but Cruz. Same story for the GOP Establishment.
We quit FOX entirely after the August debate debacle and the outrageous behavior of the moderators, especially Megyn Kelly. Nothing I’ve heard or read since leads me to think otherwise. What folks are taking as “support” for Trump is much more likely to be resignation and acceptance borne out of the strong possibility that Trump will be the nominee – and if they totally alienate him, he will go to all of the other networks – thus, they lose in the ratings game. After all, it is a business they’re supposed to be running there at FOX (and the rest of the Malignant Media) – though it’s obvious that they’re all so busy trying to be kingmakers and chess players they’ve forgotten their primary job.
“Isn’t there something about having to give equal time or is that only in the general?”
That is the FCC “equal-time rule” that applies to FCC-licensed broadcast stations, not cable networks. The rule applies if your signal is broadcast over the public airwaves (not privately owned inftrastructure like cable or satellite). Broadcasters don’t have to proactively give the time to all candidates, rather if they give free time to any candidate, then they must give equal time to any other candidate that requests it. As a matter of principle, many news outlets on broadcast networks do try to
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-time_rule
“The equal-time rule specifies that U.S. radio and television broadcast stations must provide an equivalent opportunity to any opposing political candidates who request it.”
My brother (LI commenter “4fun”), sent me this interesting video. It’s Trump’s son speaking to NV voters (“I’ve been into politics for, like, 3 weeks”).
I think you can get insights into Trump’s positions from seeing what his kid has to say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IqfRbjcpDY
Aucturian u pretty much nailed it.
I mistakenly gave you a down thumb, meant to give you
a up thump.
I am of the Erick Erickson view, though I never supported Trumph. I could see Trumph for what he is – a pompous ass.
I live in Illinois. A poison apple like Kirk and a cult of personality type like Trump are not my cup of tea. I won’t vote in November if Trumph is the nominee. The people deserve what they vote for.
No offense, but I sure wouldn’t use Erick Erickson’s point of view, who made a species argument about why he would never vote for Trump.
As Cruz is my guy, I can hold steadfast until the end, but I will vote for Trump if he is the guy. All my life, I voted for the Republican, as painful as it was – especially in the past 2 go rounds, only to find the GOP Establishment stabbing WE THE PEOPLE in the back again and again.
I will say that I won’t vote for Rubio – who has already shown a major character flaw – betraying his constituents who sent him to DC. IMO, a vote for Rubio is a vote for amnesty, unvetted and unfetted immigration, and anything else the Establishment GOP and the donors want. Malleable? No, much more the right description would be, able to be manipulated.
A vote for Rubio is a vote for the continued gravy train in DC and it’s a vote for Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer. Period. IMO.
[Erickson] “made a species argument about why he would never vote for Trump.”
Pointing out that “Donald Trump believes the federal government should fund Planned Parenthood” is critical to me a conservative and is certainly NOT a species statement on Erickson’s part.
I will not vote for anyone who supports abortion. I agree with Erickson’s “Moloch” comment. I made the same comment here not long ago.
I have family who work and attend Liberty U. I am disappointed that any so-called Evangelicals would support such a foul mouthed flippant ass whose religion is Mephistophelean. Such support reveals the paucity of values now found in the country.
I’m sorry, people like Erickson et al who pontificate from their self-appointed pulpits of “conservatism” are not people that will influence my vote. Trump, being a businessman most of his life would have had little knowledge of what Planned Parenthood evolved into. Years ago, PP was the place that most of us college girls got basic gyn care and it wasn’t the abortion factory that it is today.
When those horrific videos came out, Trump rightfully called it butchery, so while I would have liked to see him come right out and say he would defund the entire operation – maybe he is waiting for the GOP already in DC, who’ve had the power of the purse, and a pulpit to do something. When the GOP takes us seriously then maybe once again we’ll believe them.
That said, I would dearly love to see Cruz the nominee, because he has the knowledge, principles and will to do something about what the Establishment GOP will not. But Trump may be the nominee and I believe that there are things he will do that will stop the Leftist tilt. One has to begin somewhere…
It’s important to not be a one issue voter, and I, as a Catholic who stands outside praying at our local Planned Parenthood, certainly believes that abortion is evil, but so are many other things, and that’s the reality of today that needs to be recognized and dealt.
The morons at National Review led by dip wad Lowry think Marco Rubio is a good conservative.
Lowry said that this morning on FNC. Rubio is a good conservative. Mr. open borders Gang of Eight is a good conservative.
As long as there is only ONE candidate who will get it right on immigration, the border wall, and deportation then NOTHING ELSE ABOUT THAT CANDIDATE MATTERS.
We won’t have a country left if we don’t get immigration, the border wall, and deportation correct in this election, so ideological purity MEANS NOTHING.
BOTH CRUZ AND RUBIO are sell outs to the global corporation mega donor open borders and boost legal immigration through the roof crowd. Rubio is a bit more open about it. Cruz, as is true to form for him, a lot bigger LIAR about it.
“NOTHING ELSE ABOUT THAT CANDIDATE MATTERS”
Mr. Mope Myopia has arrived.
I sure as heck do not want shoot-from-the-lip Trumph to nominate a justice for SCOTUS. Stick that in your glazed over eye Cyclops.
So you would rather have Hillary appoint them. That’s just moronic for someone who CLAIMS to be a conservative.
Trumph and Hillary are equal in my conservative eyes, Cyclops.
Then your eyes are as blind and stupid as the rest of you.
Trump says he will appoint judges like Pryor and Sykes and Hillary will appoint judges like Obama and Lynch and Holder and you in all your flaming brilliance see no difference.
You can’t possibly be that flucking STUPID. You just can’t bring yourself to “think different”.
And yet, Trump made mention that he thought his sister, the Federal Judge would make a good SCOTUS nominee.
Trump’s sister, the Majority opinion author of Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey v. Farmer, where the Third Circuit struck down the New Jersey Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.
Quoting from the opinion: …In what can only be described as a desperate attempt to circumvent over twenty-five years of abortion jurisprudence, the Legislature would draw a line based upon the location in the woman’s body where the fetus expires,” … “Establishing the cervix as the demarcation line between abortion and infanticide is nonsensical on its face as well as inaccurate because that line may be crossed in any number of abortion procedures which the Legislature concedes are constitutionally protected.… The Legislature’s attempt to label the Act a birth, instead of an abortion, regulation is nothing more than an effort to cloud the issues and avoid clear precedent.”
Except for one teeny-tiny problem: WHERE the fetus expires is, you know, KIND OF IMPORTANT!!!!!! The legislature has every right to dictate the exact location of what they consider “birth” for the purposes of regulating a medical procedure.
Maryanne Trump Barry may have initially been a Reagan nominee, but she was elevated by William Clinton to the 3rd Circuit. That should TELL you something about her general jurisprudence. Now, she did testify for Justice Alito during his confirmation hearings, which brings her some redemption, but that leaves much to be desired.
Decisions like the above are the very DEFINITION of judicial activism, as it treads heavily on a decision that is a LEGISLATIVE function. The fact that Trump thinks that type of judicial activism is a good idea should give anyone considering Trump as a candidate pause.
Thank you Chuck for pointing out reality to the glazed-over eye of Cyclops.
Progressive Britt, there is no value whatsoever to think “think different”.
And, again, I will not vote for anyone who supports abortion or its front organization. How could any Catholic support a candidate who does? But I guess that is to “think different.”
I’ll stick to reality and to pro-life permanent values.
Trumph’s is Mephistophelean. You must have renounced Catholicism and joined Trumph’s church, Britt, so you could “think different”.
Yes, I am sure Donald is going to say, “No way would I appoint my sister. She is pure liberal evil. You’d have to go a long way to find somebody with less integrity than her.”
No one (regardless of how they really feel) should say something like that in public about family. So he says something nice about his sister and you’re holding that against him. How far do you need to stretch?
He’s blowing smoke about that. His sister is too old anyway. No way he would pick someone that age. But he says something nice and people point and screech.
Yes, that “good conservative” description they’re trying to paint Rubio with is outrageous. There isn’t anything conservative about making it okay for anybody and everybody to break the laws of this land. There isn’t anything conservative or righteous about treating our citizens like second-class and making sure their jobs go to H1B visa holders.
Want to know what a Rubio presidency would bring? Look to Europe. What the Lefties haven’t already done with their PC suppression of free speech in this country, it will swing wide the doors to the end of our country – just like the European nations are finding. It would bring us to be just like Western Europe, dying before our eyes because of their EU socialist dictatorship. IMO.
So the idiot Eric Erickson wants Hillary to make the next 3 supreme court appointments rather than build a wall and secure the border.
He has absolutely NO CREDIBILITY left.
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Great. Just reported on @FoxNews that many people who supported @JebBush are now supporting me. I knew that would happen, pundits didn’t!
The above was confirmed by Rasmussen polling results that show AFTER Jeb pulled out Trump’s support increased by 5%. So approximately 1/2 of former Jeb supporters went to TRUMP !!
So much for all the windbaggery about Trump not being the second choice of any other candidate.
Rasmussen Reports. 2/22 Trump 36% Cruz 17% Rubio 21%
Fox 2/17 Trump 36% Cruz 19% Rubio 15%
I’d say they went to Rubio.
Trump went up 5% so sure not all went to Trump. The balance went other places. Likely many to Rubio. The point was all the cruzbots and all the media have been saying for weeks that NONE would ever go to Trump.
Obviously Trump got 25% to 40% of Bush’s voters.
2/22 trump 36%. 2/17 trump 36%. trump didn’t change.
Go to Rassmusen Reports that is where story is from.
In other words, the establishment voters supporting Jeb are now supporting another establishment candidate, Trump.
The fact that fools can’t see that Trump IS the ball-playing, smoky back-room, ‘rat deal-making establishment candidate is sad and terrifying at the same time.
Jacob Ritvo @JRitvo
Morning of #NevadaCaucus @PredictWise has @realDonaldTrump at 52% to win GOP nomination, @marcorubio 44%, @tedcruz 2%, @JohnKasich 2%
It’s pretty funny that “He can win” is now your main defense of Trump, since all the other arguments turn out to be hollow or counterfactual.
“He can win” is, of course, an idea that Trump fans regard as signaling treachery when it’s used for any other candidate. “He can win,” to the anti-GOPe, has long meant selling out principles for the sake of power.
But “He can win” turns out to be quite useful in defense of an egomaniacal status-seeker with poor character, deficient impulse control, and scarcely any consistent principles.
No what’s funny is you’ve been saying for weeks he can’t win, and when someone exposes your bullshit then that’s “bad”.
Just shut up and wait for your chance to vote for your Hillary.
“Morning of #NevadaCaucus @PredictWise has @realDonaldTrump at 52% to win GOP nomination, @marcorubio 44%, @tedcruz 2%, @JohnKasich 2%”
Rubio is way oversold on that prediction. Look at the polling in upcoming states.
Here are ALL of the polls completed in last 2 weeks (except FL which has had none since mid-January) in upcoming primaries, multiple numbers indicate multiple polls (source RealClearPolitics):
NV (Trump +16,28)
GA (Trump +13 )
MA (Trump +34)
TX (Cruz +5,15)
VA (Trump +6)
MI (Trump +23,10,30)
FL – (3 polls from 1/17-21 have Trump +19,32,12, avg. Trump +21)
NC – (Trump +9,18,10)
I am a conservative. I have been one all my life. I even had the privilege of voting for Ronald Reagan.
Trump is no conservative.
Whether Trump is conservative or not is IRRELEVANT at this time.
Build wall, deport, enforce laws. THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS. If country doesn’t survive for failure to build wall, deport, enforce laws nobody will ever have the chance to worry about electing a conservative for president in the future.
I worked on Reagan’s campaign. He isn’t running this time around and the only person dedicated to saving the country from an ongoing invasion is named TRUMP.
Gary, would you just shut the hell up for awhile, please? I am sick of seeing your big mouth bombarding every election thread with the same BS over and over and over. You’re like an old broken record stuck on the same notes playing at FULL volume 24/7. On one thread I counted and calculated that 40+% of the posts were yours. 40+% from ONE person. You’re as “loud” and as obnoxious as your hero. Just give it a rest for awhile. Maybe try less caffeine, whatever; but chill.
Must really hurt. You are actually counting the number of posts?
There is a name attached to each one. Perhaps you might just skip on by… Nah, you’re like a moth drawn by the light.
Let us know when you count the number of posts and percentages of them made by those that agree with you.
Now you know how I feel about posts from you, Rags, Radegunda, and Jenniferet al.
How many of tbat 40% were replies to the name calling ad homibem attacks on me from the above.
Now that I know hearing and seeing things that challenge your world view bother you so much I’ll be sure to keep posting.
What Barry Said.
We know he isn’t a conservative. But I look around me at all the people I’ve supported or voted for and sent to Washington who said they were “conservative” and I see what we got – NOTHING. Not one thing that McConnell et al promised in his campaign was done. In fact, we’ve learned they’ve tried to destroy the tea party/grassroots folks – meaning they’ve been working with the Democrats all along. Which we now know.
So, I’m not worried about Trump’s conservativism, I care about him doing at least SOME of what he says he’ll do – and believe me, that will be more than what our GOP has done.
BTW, Cruz is the other guy who is unwavering in character and will, and he is my first choice, but I’m just explaining how a very conservative woman like me (as the author was trying to discern) can vote for Trump if he is the nominee.
A battle for the soul of the right.
Perhaps it should read “A battle for the sole of the right.” As in, who is it that is going to turn around and kick us Conservatives in the ass when we compromise our values (again) and elect someone who is going to stab us in the back.
The only person that I have even reasonable faith ISN’T planning to abandon any pretense of Conservative cause is Ted Cruz. Let us count the other potential nominees:
– Trump: Pro-Late-Term abortion (believes the “mammogram” myth of Planned Parenthood), Pro-crony-capitalism, Pro-Touchback amnesty (you can go back and immediately get in line for citizenship, no waiting for violating laws). He is at best an unknown quantity, and at worst a Liberal RINO in Populist clothing.
– Rubio: A darling of the TEA Party that worked hard to elect him, only to stab those who elected him in the back by his involvement with the “gang of 8” immigration debacle. On what will he waiver next?
– Kasich: Endorsed by the New York Times. Enough said. But, Accepted PPACA (Obamacare) expanded medicaid funding, and has said repeal of PPACA was “not gonna happen” but claimed later he was only talking about the medicaid expansion, and that the REST of the law had to be repealed and replaced (echo-y sound “don’t … you … believe … it”). Gun Policy – Mixed at best.
– Carson: Has issues with international security / policy. I like Dr. Carson, but he just doesn’t have the fire. He’s too patient. While not a flaw, it’s a trait probably learned from too many years in pediatrics, and it won’t serve him well at the times when he DOES need to get mad and stand his ground more forcefully.
Cruz has his issues, and some of them are worse than others (“financial disclosures” on the FULLY SECURED loan from the bank is a non-starter). A claim that he is for amenesty simply isn’t going to stick (arcane Senate rules notwithstanding).
My opinion is that Cruz is the least likely to buckle when his Conservative ideals are tested and the temptation is to give way to what is easy rather than what is correct.
CRUZ has ALREADY buckled when it comes to open borders and increased legal immigration. He won’t deport and won’t build a wall and wants a 500,000 person per year increase in H1B foreign workers to take USA jobs.
He is ALREADY a sell out. Wake UP !!
And supported the TPP.
I’m with you about Cruz, but will vote for Trump if he is the nominee. At the moment there is nothing the GOP is offering other than Cruz that says anything will be different than the past 7 yrs, past 15yrs. etc. etc. I’ve supported GOP always, and now they have the gall to demand once again we vote their way only.
Not this time. This time, if it isn’t Cruz, I’ll take my chances with Trump. After all, what is the GOP going to do differently than they’ve been doing???
Agree 100%. Well said, as always.
Thank you, Jack Russell, appreciate your kind words.
That was actually to Chuck, which is not to say I don’t appreciate your posts, too. 🙂
All good. Thanks anyway. 🙂
Trump is the arson I will vote for to burn the place to the ground if I can’t vote for Cruz.
You’re illustrating the role that nihilistic rage plays among Trump supporters, though it’s odd to see it paired with support for an actual constitutional conservative.
What happens once “the place” — whatever you mean by that — is burned to the ground? Do you even care?
I know. it’s an enigma isn’t it? That people like Andy and I say we’ll vote for Trump, if we can’t get Cruz. And that “burning to the ground” philosophy doesn’t quite fit the stalwart, unwavering Constitutional conservatives does it? But that’s where the GOP Establishment itself has taken us.
I (and there are others obviously, and we’re not all rubes) who see that the GOP getting to continue what they’ve been doing is more harmful than anything else. We’re simply not going to support that anymore. No more playfighting, no more pretend obstruction, no more watered down and abandoned principles – you see, it simply doesn’t matter to us who gave, and gave, and gave. One reaches the point that it makes sense to abandon them rather than enable them.
Buying a bottle of alcohol for an alcoholic is harmful – harms the person, the family, and even the friends, and I’m not going to the liquor store anymore.
“Do you even care?”
Apparently you do not, as you have no candidate to support.
Well, except shrillary. Since you will not vote for trump, and he will be the nominee, you are voting for shrillary. That is what people like you have been saying in every election when the R’s nominated a squish like Dole/McCain/Romney. “If you don’t vote for the republican then it is a vote for the dem”
Let’s remember that same people who are trying to convince us to vote for Rubio are the same people who gave us McCain (really, GOP???) and Romney.
That, to me, speaks volumes as to why I can’t support Rubio. The GOPe prefer to pick losers.
The reason that the claims that “Trump is not a Conservative” ring hollow is that the Republican Party is not Conservative and has not been for a generation. And they have not acted [as opposed to claiming to be] Conservative in all that time. There are Conservative Republicans in office, but they are few and attacked by the Republican party with far more energy and fervor than the Republican party has ever attacked any Democrat.
And ideologically, he is not a pure Conservative. He is a pragmatic blend of some Conservative beliefs, nationalism, and populism.
And that is the best we are going to get. I can’t see Cruz, who is a Conservative, being able to fight past the combined efforts of both wings of the Bipartisan Governing Party. I hope to see them working together, but that may not be.
Trump may be lying. But we KNOW based on actual actions that the GOPe is lying and will do nothing to save the country. What they will do is help the Democrats destroy the country. So that leaves Trump as the only chance that someone will fight for the country.
Further, a real resistance to the Left cannot happen until the Republican Party is gone. Every time, the first fight to try to resist the Left has had to be defeating the GOPe who acts as their first line of defense. They have to be swept away so that a new SECOND party can arise, if the country lasts that long.
This rings true: “Conservative Republicans in office … are few and attacked by the Republican party with far more energy and fervor than the Republican party has ever attacked any Democrat.”
May be lying? Everything about Trump from the tip of his toenails to the top of his comb over is fundamentally dishonest with two exceptions. He is completely sincere when he says Donald Trump is great. And by extension America must be great because Donald Trump lives here.
Trump has made a fortune selling dreams he often can’t make good on. When that happens he then lies, points fingers and tries to sue his way out of any blame. This is why Trump is loathed in places as diverse as Gary, Indiana. Aberdeen shire, Scotland. Palm Beach, Florida and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Exactly, and you stated it well. I don’t need Trump to be a “conservative” because it’s obvious the conservatism the GOP touts is just meaningless gibberish. I have a friend in politics, a conservative, who describes what the GOP does as “play fighting” they’ve pretended to oppose the Democrats, and then for the past several decades, and especially the past 7 yrs, they’ve enabled the Democrats completely.
What has that kind of “conservativism” given my country? Nothing but a further leftward push over the ledge.
You are correct. What has the GOP done lately? Both houses of Congress and they can’t even defund PP after seeing them murdering and selling babies.
Soros and his paid minions provoke the burning of Ferguson and the GOP does? Nothing. Baltimore becomes a killing field and free-fire zone and nobody in the GOP does anything to name the perps or stop it from happening in the future. Fast and Furious? Crickets. IRS? Crickets. They don’t have the guts for fight. They could fight in any number of ways but they don’t they wring their hands and cry about it. Sometimes literally.
Get to fighting or get out of the way. Quit standing there holding coats. The American people finally realize who’s been doing nothing for decades. If you won’t fight unless you get to pick your ‘team captain’ then you’re no help.
I know Trump won’t be able to keep all of his promises. But I also know the GOP would rather run with a tuck tail than fight.
A criminal breaks into your home and awakens you and your family from a sound sleep. The criminal is just about to cut everyone’s head off when three strangers enter.
One of the strangers says the criminal is only there out of an act of love and we must worry about pretending to lock our doors and windows in the future and the criminal will be nice if we just give him part ownership in your home.
The second of the strangers says he is an expert on criminal law, constitutional rights, and the original intent behind the philosophical idea that a man’s home is his castle. He tells you if we just don’t let this criminal have a job in your home he will feel the pressure and maybe leave. He doesn’t recommend more secure locks for your doors and windows or forcing the criminal to leave. Just wait and let the psychological pressure work its miracles he says. If the criminal doesn’t leave then we can always fall back on giving him part ownership in your home.
The third stranger pulls a gun on the criminal and shoots him. Then puts a sign on his body that says criminals not welcome and ships the body back to his home town so everyone there will know “criminals not welcome”. Then the third stranger makes your doors and windows burglar proof.
The neighbors all decry the third stranger because, he shot the criminal, he talks funny and he doesn’t seem to share all the neighbors values. And besides his hair is funny looking. They say it is better for you and your family to die and not be saved by the funny talking funny looking stranger than to shoot the criminal and put better locks on your doors and windows.
Stranger #3 isn’t Trump, that’s for sure. He was a draft dodger and is wobbly on guns. He wants to sleep with Vladimir Putin. He’s not #3.
Maybe the homeowner should have been better prepared rather than hope that somebody bails him out. That’s what a real American does; that’s what a true conservative does. Self-responsibility and self-reliance are the other side of the coin called “independence.”
“He was a draft dodger….”
Do you call everyone that received a student deferment during the Vietnam War a draft dodger?
Trump got 4 deferments for 4 years of college.
Know who got 5 deferments?
Dick Cheney.
Did you call him a draft dodger when he was a VP candidate?
After college Trump was relisted and reported for service, took his physical from an Armed Forces doctor and ruled medically ineligible. Didn’t make any difference as his draft number that year was 356.
http://bit.ly/1COjn5T
http://bit.ly/21gOx16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoAmll3ViQA this is sooo damned funny, Things really must not be going well for either Bernie or Hillary Mwahahahahahaha Want to know why Trump has a massive following?
Take a look at the above video…. and see just how demoralized/disheartened the progressives/liberals are that they hear most people won’t support Socialist Bernie Sanders or Hillary because they are voting Trump.
and you start to see why…. Ted Cruz has problems…
Ted Cruz doesn’t generate this level of effect in liberals/progressives at all. (neither did Romney or McCain)
That girl needs to have her meds changed fast and just not “do” politics ever again.
I wonder if there’s a safe space for her to go curl up in the fetal position for a few days until she recovers from all that terrible telephone microaggression.
BTW, if anyone is interested in the endorsements of that so-called conservative, Rubio, here is a link to his number and the Congressional critters. You’ll see that Rubio pulls almost all “F” conservative rated endorsers, and Cruz has almost all “A” and “B” Congress critters.
http://www.unifiedpatriots.com/2016/02/23/each-candidate-has-his-army-of-support/
From JAJ above “I will not vote for anyone who supports abortion.”
Completely off topic but I hope we get more coverage at LI. I feel like the pro-life movement has made enormous progress on a complex topic fighting huge odds. Must be many lessons to learn.
I don’t see anything conservative about Trump – he’s just another East Coast liberal who has had “conservative” beliefs for all of 15 minutes, without any real history or conviction of conservative principle.
Sorry, I see little meaningful difference between Trump and Obama. “Build a wall” is no different than “heal the Earth” and “Make America Great Again” is no different than “hope & change” and “bring jobs back” is no different than “close Gitmo.” Just meaningless words spoken by unprincipled men.
No because you can actually ‘build a wall’. Nobody can ‘heal the Earth’. Now we just need an air launch cannon to send back any criminal invaders.