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Trump Reconsidered
“Donald Trump” by Michael Vadon. Via Wikimedia Commons.
It’s time for those of us holding our noses at Trump to reconsider our approach. He’s not our cup of tea, but he may be a cup we have to drink from. Barring a minor miracle in Iowa, or a major one in New Hampshire, Trump is going to be our nominee. He may even be the president. It’s time we tried to make that unwanted cup as palatable as possible.
What is at stake here is not our pride or our good taste, but the future of the country we love. After the depredations of Obama’s rule, we conservatives do not have the luxury of holding our breath until our preferred candidate materializes; we owe it to America to try to make the best of a potential Trump presidency.
The attitudes expressed by George Will, Jay Nordlinger, Mona Charen, and others whom I admire are wrong: rather than be embarrassed by Trump or worry that he will tarnish the conservative movement, conservatives should be taking a page from the Left and try to bring The Donald into the fold. In short, we need less public fulmination and more private persuasion.
I have nothing against Trump as a person. His bluster and crassness are unappealing to me, but my real reservation about him is that he does not grasp the wily ways of the Left and thus will be duped into policies that will work against his intended purpose. Remember the governorships of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura.
The testimony of Conrad Black and others has shown me a side of Donald Trump I did not think existed. They both attest to his kind support during their times of trouble. This speaks to magnanimity, something sorely lacking in our times. The norm of our days is that your conservative friends vanish when you are accused of anything, however unjustly. Trump stands by his friends. I am not arguing that Trump is Mitt Romney — a person of exemplary moral character — but that he could be somebody we could do business with.
Conservative thought leaders should approach Trump quietly and respectfully in an attempt to alert him to the dangers that litter the ideological landscape. This may already be going on behind the scenes, but if it is not, it should happen, pronto. That delegation should be led by Conrad Black and Larry Kudlow, resplendent in their finery. It should also include George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Jay Nordlinger and Mona Charen all dressed as penitents, unshod and wrapped in sackcloth.
Published in Politics
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Is there a reason to think that they would be worse?
I was talking to a older gentleman over the holiday. He had a chuckle about Trump. Said the last time he saw the GOP in such a twitter was back when the voters nominated a ex Democrat, union boss, washed up B level film actor. It seemed to work out well then.
In the abstract, would you support a candidate who:
Now, I’m not talking about any particular candidate. But if such a candidate were to somehow be nominated, I don’t see how I could vote for him.
You are not talking (writing) about any particular candidate. What you wrote describes only one candidate. You are avoiding the obvious.
Whom would that be?
The only thing Trump needs to be shown is the door. Then he should go out through it.
If we are in a charitable mood, maybe someone will open it first.
He once said he would nominate his sister if President.
Oh, dear. I’m far from a Trump supporter, but there are a lot of overzealous criticisms in this thread.
I don’t think that Trump will be the nominee, but he’s certainly appealing to an important part of the GOP base right now. He has no track record in public service, which makes it harder to evaluate the honesty of his current positions. He has taken a number of very anti-conservative positions in the past, but he may have come around.
I mean, if we’re going to reject everybody with a left-wing past, then we’d have to disqualify Reagan and ignore Sowell and Krauthammer.
So I’m going to keep an open mind. It is a long time between now and the nomination, and things aren’t generally settled in Iowa and New Hampshire anyway.
The field is going to narrow further. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say:
Bush will drop out after poor early results, together with Carson, Fiorina and either Kasich or Christie. This will narrow the field to Trump, Cruz, Rubio, and either Kasich or Christie.
Either Cruz or Rubio will gain momentum from these changes, and will be the nominee. If it’s Cruz, he’ll pick Rubio as his running mate. If it’s Rubio, his running mate will be Kasich, Christie, Walker, or Fiorina, for electoral reasons (to bring over a swing state or, for Fiorina, to counter Hillary’s appeal to women).
The establishment alternatives to Trump:
Now I’m not talking about any candidate in particular. I’m only talking about the ones I don’t like. I certainly won’t vote for a candidate I don’t like, so there.
Establishment types apparently do.
Does she understand the difference between a tax and an UnConstitutional mandate? If so she is at least as qualified as our present Chief Justice.
That’s because we know the establishment candidates stink to high heaven. Trump is the devil we don’t know, and that gets him some slack.
If we could only look into his eyes and see his soul…
Then learn to live with Hillary, because the GOP is not nominating another Certified Pre-Owned Moderate™ this year. Or if they do, I’m done with the GOP at all levels of government.
Let’s don’t turn this into another SSM thread.
The trouble with a peace commission to the Donald is that it involves negotiating with his intractable supporters. If it was just him I’d welcome him into conservatism with open arms and maybe a reading list.
Probably wouldn’t vote for him though.
If you’re a restaurateur, a hotelier, or a general contractor, “the country’s” only interest is having as much cheap labor as possible. And if that means letting ISIS thugs infiltrate a non-existent border with Mexico, life’s tough, and life’s tougher when you’re not the boss. It’s good to be the boss.
Which is more than anyone else is doing. Lip service is better than no service at all.
There is no possible way they could be worse. None.
If they can’t rule the party, they’re perfectly willing to ruin it. As a matter of fact they’ve done a pretty good job or ruining the party while they have ruled it.
If I recall correctly (and I do) the GOP establishment absolutely hated Ronald Reagan’s guts. He wasn’t the right sort, at all.
The man is a cur. If he expects that to win over evangelicals, he’s a dimwitted cur.
I bet ivanka might beg to differ.
If such a candidate shows up, we will be sure to inform you.
I believe we have spotted several of those. Would you like them fried, sauted or raw?
If you want to run a restaurant or hotel for more than a few years before you go under, the retention of skilled labor who know how to cook, serve and clean becomes critical for profitability. Contractors that rely on unskilled labor do not last the next slowdown in work. There is a reason people who run these businesses have a 96% failure rate after five years.
We live in the era of Yelp and Angies List. Good luck with lowest cost labor strategy.
The companies you are looking for are poultry processing and other jobs with indirect consumer interface.
Denigrated the POW’s …
Would not surprise me if he hadn’t read them..
At least he seems genuine in his love for this country. Can’t say that for the democrats.
Tarred and feathered, preferably.