I have always considered conservatism to be the political philosophy of the thinking man. We don’t vote on a whim. We research the issues and vet our candidates. Most of us are people who hold ourselves to high moral principles, and we expect the same from our elected representatives. That’s what makes the popularity of Donald Trump so ironic. I understand that Conservatives are tired of the Washington status quo. Tired of Republican politicians who talk a good line and promise what ever to get elected and then don’t deliver. We are disgusted with the disingenuousness of political correctness and long for someone with enough chutzpa to stand up and speak the truth. Donald Trump is not that man.
We’ve all known that the left has its low information voters, people who are not motivated to delve into a candidate’s record, or history. Uncomfortable with the concept of personal responsibility, wallowing in perpetual victimhood, this constituency will vote for the candidate who seems most capable of providing a life free from worry or want. The progressive movement depends on these suckling lambs and leads them, like a herd, to the polls every election. Unfortunately Conservatism also has its useful idiots. People who vote based on emotion. They’ll choose the candidate who says what they want to hear, no mater his background. Trump appeals to these people. A consummate entertainer, Trump knows how to work an audience for maximum response. An inveterate attention whore, he thrives on working an audience into a frenzy. Trump paints himself as a Washington outsider, but from the ham-fisted attempt at quoting scripture at Liberty University, his way of pandering to whatever crowd he encounters, to his passive aggressive style of attacking his opponents, The Donald has proven that he is a very skilled politician. What he is not, is a statesman. Arrogant and petulant, he has at times behaved like a spoiled toddler or a playground bully. While many praise his outspokenness, there is a difference between being politically incorrect and being crass and vulgar. Trump does not know this difference; he says the first thing that pops into his mind however outlandish. No world leader would take him seriously.
Conservatives want a President who understands basic economics. One who will press for a balanced budget and get our fiscal house in order. But is Trump really the type of businessman for the job? Unlike businessmen like Herman Cain or Mitt Romney, who have a history of taking failing businesses, making the tough cuts and restoring them to solvency, Trump is a real-estate speculator. He takes investors money, or takes out loans, then sinks that money into risky ventures. Many times it has paid off big, making him millions, but it has also landed him in bankruptcy four times. Is this really the kind of businessman we want in charge of our tax dollars?
As for his Conservative credentials, Trump is hard to pin down. He has a history of donating to whatever candidate he could get the most use out of whether they were Liberal or Conservative. He donated to Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanual to name a few. He didn’t make these donations because he believed in these politicians, no, he donated for favors. This is exactly the kind of cronyism that makes our representatives so unresponsive to the needs of the people who elect them. Trump has used the very system that is the biggest problem in Washington. He has supported then unsupported an assault weapon ban, and a single payer health care system. While it might be possible that he has had a change of heart about these issues, the fact that many of the changes are recent, leads one to question whether this is genuine, or just pandering for the Conservative vote.
We slam Ted Cruz because of a couple of campaign faux pas; we don’t trust Marco Rubio because he was part of the Gang of Eight. We scrutinize every facet of the other candidates. But just like Obama, for whom none of his numerous offenses seem to stick, we have simply chosen to overlook all the vast and varied reasons why Donald Trump is the wrong person to be the Republican nominee.
We have let this circus go on far too long. The stakes are far too high. The very future of our once great nation and our way of life are at stake. So confident of his chance of winning, the Donald will most assuredly run as an Independent if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination. This will fracture the Conservative vote, and hand the White House over to a Liberal Crone or a died in the wool Socialist. True Conservatives hoped we would be able to have a real leader, someone we could whole-heartedly support, instead of voting for the lesser of two evils. Looks like we will be disappointed again
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