“The ideal Republican candidate would have stage presence, an intimidation factor, and a willingness to play dirty.
His name is Donald Trump. His slogan is ready-made: “You’re Fired.” He does not give a damn what the media thinks of him — he steamrolled Meredith Vieira during his NBC interview with her last week. He can self-fund to the tune of $1 billion.
And what’s more, he can win.” – Ben Shapiro – 4/13/2011
~~~~~~~~
Remember when Donald Trump was the guy desperate conservatives were looking to in order to take down the presumptive nominee, Jeb Bush?
I can remember when Ted Cruz wasn’teven mentioned in primary polls because he was barely at 5%. Bernie Sanders was at 13%. It was Hillary versus Bush, for sure, unless someone could ride in to the rescue.
Trump’s arc has been both fascinating and enlightening.
– News articles discussing the Clinton/Bush matchup in 2016, as if it were a given, pissed off millions of conservatives.
Something needed to be done to smash the GOP apparatus that handpicked our lousy candidates. The GOP needed to be taught the lesson that we were willing to burn down the tent in order to show them that democracy is We the People, and not a select group of elites that manipulate the process.
– Enter Donald Trump. He was an oddball choice, but in demeanor he couldn’t have been more unlike the passive Jeb Bush. Trump seized on many core conservative gripes – immigration, Obamacare, job growth, our declining military and Islam. He was hands down the toughest talker on these issues. He stood out in a packed field. He was the perfect foil to teach the GOP a lesson, and we might even get our favored issues passed in the process.
– The presumptive air surrounding Jeb began to diminish. Conservatives were beginning to believe, at the very least, that we were in control, not the GOP. We were grateful for Trump.
– Trump’s behavior in the early debates made Jeb seem lethargic, silly, weak and perhaps presidential for another point in time. Not 2016. We were grateful for Trump.
– As Trump began to overtake Scott Walker, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio there was a little nervous laughter. We were still grateful for Trump, but he served his purpose. He had no lasting power. It was time to leave.
– As Trump support galvanized, once grateful conservatives were now wondering how they could un-hire the hired gun as they looked to candidates that were polling far behind Trump as the better choice.
– A troubling moment in the Trump arc was when Conservatives were willing to adopt the leftist narrative that hardliners, “willing to play dirty” (to quote a once starry-eyed Ben Shapiro), were unacceptable, probably racist, and for sure Neanderthal. Trump was no conservative and he had no right to have ever entered the GOP field.
Frontrunner and presumptive nominee Trump, and his supporters, need to be taught the lesson that anti-Trump people are willing to burn down the tent in order to show them that democracy is not We the People. It’s a select group of elites that will manipulate the process.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
And I must reiterate at this point. I think Ted Cruz would make a fantastic president. I’m not a die-hard Trumpeteer (or whatever dismissive nickname is being used by the people who think Trump is too dismissive), my vote can end up anywhere depending on what the lay of the land looks like and what I need to do to best assure that the left not get in power.
Am I being hijacked by the #NeverTrump coalition? No, because, like I said, I am foremost a #NeverHillary #NeverLeft advocate. I’m not willing to die on a Donald Trump hill for some similar cockamamie convoluted reason the #NeverTrump coalition conjures up when they try and convince people that Hillary is a better choice than Trump.
Trump is simply not a clear and far away better choice than Cruz for me to take some idiotic stand that could lead to a leftist statist government.
I think one of the #NeverTrump claims is that big government is big government whether left or right.
I’m not even going to end with a snarky comment about this belief. I’m going to play nice.
If the greatest thing Donald J. Trump ever does as a politician was to destroy the House of Bush, then he will have done America a great service.
The author bemoans “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss” yet does not see that occurring with Ted Cruz.
“Outsider”? NO. Legacy insider with a good schtick.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/03/19/the-mask-is-officially-off-how-ted-cruz-is-funded-by-biggest-dc-insiders/
—
TO DurkaDurka
Patience. See what he does as President!
“The GOP needed to be taught the lesson that we were willing to burn down the tent in order to show them that democracy is We the People, and not a select group of elites that manipulate the process.”
That right there ^^^^^. The GOP did this to the people, we are just fighting back as best we can. Cruz is not it, and maybe Trump is not it either. But I’m going with Trump over Cruz. Anyone Glen Beck backs is the one I don’t want to vote for. And those who said in the beginning it was going to be Bush vs Hillary were dead wrong yet they thought they were so right. Where are those people now? They’ve shut their pie hole. Go Trump!
I have NO problem burning down the tent.
COD-
you have to put my quote in context.
If you believe what both candidates are saying, Cruz and Trump are not that far apart.
If you think Trump would make a fantastic president, you’d have to believe on the basis of core beliefs that Cruz would make a fantastic president as well. And vise versa.
And weighed against the prospect of a Hillary presidency, ANYONE on the right that was in this cycle’s field would make a fantastic president.
This is the failing of #NeverTrump.
I am #NeverHillary #NeverLeft, and I will do with my vote what I believe is the best chance for that not to happen.
I think stridency this cycle is complete bullshit.
I’ll sort out who the shitheada are after the dust settles.
We have adult problems.
The day Trump starts taking money from the same super PACS as Ted Cruz is the day I’ll throw up my hands. I’ve already figured out who the ‘sh*theads are. It’s no use speculating that Trump will anger a lot of people, he already has. All the right people.
It’s no good saying on one side our mouths how much we detest Wall Street and The CoC, then make an allowance for Cruz. He’s burned through his small money donations and now the big money is running his campaign.
Gahh! Glenn Beck said yesterday that Cruz is now the “Priesthood Rising” to the Mormon church in Utah. Cruz can take Utah, Trump has NY.
Trump is meeting with the establishment Rinos. Trump can’t be trusted he’s a liar and a fraud.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/19/trump-to-huddle-with-top-republicans-ahead-of-aipac-speech/?postshare=3661458420292969&tid=ss_tw
Oy,
About the Glen Beck thing; aren’t ISIS, the ones he was criticizing for trying to force the hand of God? The Mormon prophesy is about the end times, and the last time I looked Damascus was still there so I think it’s safe to say we’re not there just yet.
Like Diamond and Silk imparted last night on Watter’s World: “He needs to go somewhere and sit down”
I agree with BFH that Cruz would make an outstanding President
But because the GOPe have shown themselves to be a wanton Jezebel for power eclipsed only by the Democratic front-runner, I choose Trump
It is not the Country that hangs in the balance, its the cushy lifestyles of Washington that stands in the balance,
Trump is the Happy Gilmore of the GOPe
People resonate with him because below all the political maundering he is what the American Dream was created to produce.
He is a self made man (for those who gripe about his inheritance: he turned the equivalent of 2 grand into 2 million)
He is unafraid.
He cares not for the entrenched aristocracy of the political Guild
He is used to being disparaged by his enemies
When attacked he does not react, he returns fire, twice as hard.
He is uncouth, and unapologetic
Those Bastards in the GOP make him sign a pledge that was as strong as RV toilet paper and now float this ‘Unity Party’ crap around?
I don’t know what I am, but I sure as hell am no longer a Republican.
My disgust with Trump is predicated on his scorched earth philosophy. I’m not naive to think that we can’t disagree, but at the end of the day, the one left standing is going to have been so burnt to a crisp by the over the top denunciations of the others that the damage will carry over to the general election.
Reagan knew at the end of the day that if he laid Bush to whale shit, he would not only alienate those who supported Bush, but Bush as well. I don’t recall anyone wondering why Reagan picked Bush after calling him a liar, etc. The Eleventh Commandment worked simply because everyone laid out their disagreements with the others on the basis of philosophy and not through character assassination.
Cruz is a liar? So is Trump. Cruz is a million and one bad things that Trump has spewed out, and you know what? So is Trump. But Cruz didn’t donate to democrats–and Cruz (at least to me) won’t make a deal simply because he gets an erection from tough negotiations–we’ve been sold down the river from the first Bush’s “deal makers”, starting with Jim Baker. Sometimes, the best deal is the one you don’t make….as we witnessed last season with the Mets not trading Wilmer Flores which allowed them to trade for Cespedes. Failure to reach an accord isn’t always a sign of weakness.
Cruz isn’t perfect, but so long as he’s in the race, I continue to believe he’s the best qualified for the job. Trump, I’m not so sure,and while I don’t rule out my voting for him should he get the nomination, it’s not a foregone conclusion, because to me, in many ways, he’s not that far from being a Dem, and I am wary of anyone who is nominally conservative.
If I don’t vote for him, it will mean that his personality that many find so fantastic, his willingness to rub the GOPe nose in it should remember that it wasn’t only the members of the GOPe that he directed his flame thrower at….and that supporters of the candidate who was the focus of the flames at the end of the day remain a bloc who may not be so willing to forgive or forget. My not voting for him though will be based on my belief that he is not that different from killary due to his being a NYC pubbie and not a Reagan Republican (I live in the NY metro area and know of which I speak. I know what I’m getting with killary, and I don’t know how much different Trump will be; after being lied to all these years by the GOPe, I’m tired of being peed on and being told it’s just raining out.)
I’ve been involved in politics for over 40 years, and can gutter fight with the best of them–but truly believe that it’s a tactic best leveled against the Dems.
TPP is the mold on the Cruz. He’s a smarmy acrobat like the other establishment people. He’s taking Super-Pac $$, he has no problem with Mercer $$ and data mining.
Plus what AA said.
At the end of the day, the trump card will be played and the Canadian will be declared ineligable. It will be dropped at the convention should Cruz get the 1237.
Ask youself….why do 3 andidates in the last 8 years, current potus, Rubio, Cruz, have murky legal status to run for this office?
It seems to me, after enduring the Cintons, that the eastablishment desires compromised candidates. Another form of control?
The socialists are mobilizing the feral urban savages, the pervert lobby, the hate-America cult, the illegal invading rat-people, and izlamic see-no-evil fools and sycophants to such a fever pitch that I expect the GOPe to fold like a cheap lawn chair soon.
They’ve already thrown Trump to the wolves, Cruz is next, and then the American people – when the socialists (Dem (Bolsheviks) and Rep (Mensheviks)) and the media are finished we’ll be apologizing for being white or American or having jobs – and promise to pay more taxes so the maggots will calm down and go back to watching Orca and drinking MD 20/20 or cutting off the heads of Christians.
Something to make you go HMMMM…
I am reading REAGAN’S REVOLUTION THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE CAMPAIGN THAT STARTED IT ALL by CRAIG SHIRLEY
The parallels between Reagan and Trump, between the GOP of then and now, between the press of then and now are amazing.
Everything that is being hurled at Trump was hurled at Reagan – in the same way by the same ideologues. No one gave Reagan credit for being smart, well read or a deep thinker. Reagan was dismissed as divisive and a “boob”.
Here’s a quote from the intro to the book by Fred Barnes speaking of Reagan:
“His candidacy has been extraordinary. He was seen by many as shallow and simplistic and even dangerous. All but a handful of Senators and Congressmen shunned him. He was opposed by nearly every state organization. He had practically no editorial support.”
I can come around to Trump…again.
Yet it seems the usual suspects on this site just can’t get over their Cruz Derangement Syndrome.
*Sigh.
It was the second comment out the box.
Yada yada Cruz…
Abigail Adams will never disappoint either.
@govlawyer – if you read REAGAN’S REVOLUTION you’ll learn that Regan – who was a democrat up to 12 years before he first ran for president – didn’t always follow the 11th Commandment about not speaking ill (the 1980 Ford/Reagan primary contest was bitter with animosities that lasted lifetimes).
Like Trump, Reagan was in tune with what the people were demanding which made his motives suspect to the party and media “leaders”.
pageoturner,
You are EXACTLY right. Further more if you go back and check the historical FACTS the media was shocked that Bush senior accepted the VP position after all the nasty exchanges between he and Reagan.
There are other similarities. We were lucky enough to get a guy like Reagan after Carter had done everything in his power to destroy the economy. Back then Reagan laid some fertile ground, ramped up military spending, lowered corporate tax rates and viola, everybody made money.
It won’t be that easy this time. Trade deals, regulations, taxes, immigration,etc etc need to be managed to get our economy going again. Trumps the only guy that has the experience to get this done. And for those who are living in their own little economic bubble and are unaffected by our current mess I’d like to remind you that 33% of our population are not participating in he job market. Combine hat with a seriously massaged 5% unemployment rate and it gives you an idea of how bad thing rally are.
Brad – Here’s an article from 1980 stating that “Reagan Can’t Win”.
Polls showed him losing to Carter 58 to 40 while Ford would beat Carter 54 to 44.
As we know, Reagan won in a landslide with Carter carrying only 4 states.
Reagan had been a leader all his life, in all aspects of his life. He never viewed himself as a follower of the crowd. Sound familiar?
This is too long but certainly worth watching
http://www.youngcons.com/tucson-officer-describes-feeling-safe-with-trump-supporters-after-attending-rally/
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I know that there was hardly any love lost between Reagan and Bush, but I also know that Reagan DID NOT engage in the kind of character assassination against him that Trump has against Cruz–(or sTrumpets here crowing over how they could NEVER vote for that liar Ted Cruz. Really? Let me say to them what’s been said to me–“You want Hillary to be president?”) Bush accepted the slot and could do so without Reagan having to answer the question from the media, “We thought you said he was the biggest liar in the world; why isn’t he now?”
Reagan was a skillful politician, but he also knew that at the end of the day the last man standing was going to have to govern, and it would hardly be an easy task when the prime rate was near 19% and a running mate he branded the worst liar in the world. Remember, Jimmah Carter and obongo are two disasters that conservatives are going to have to clean up after. If I were Cruz, I’d have serious reservations about serving as VP to someone who tried to destroy me–the politics of personal destruction aren’t just practiced by clintoon demoncrats. Maybe he’ll be that desperate, but my gut tells me otherwise.
There’s less similarity to killary with Cruz than there is with the man who invited her thighness (and her horn dog husband) to his wedding.
And at the end of the day, that is what is guiding me–that and about 4 SCOTUS seats going up for bids.
I for one am fucking sick and tired of LAWYERS being the only qualified profession to be President–ESPECIALLY Harvard Lawyers. What is there some secret pact to lie, cheat , steal and generally fuck over the country amongst them? Most of the legislation that these ratfuckers pass benefits LAWYERS and Bankers. Lets try someone who did not (A) attend Harvard and (B) is not a Lawyer.
To govlawyer
Ya, SO? It’s 2016…NOT 1980.
The tenor of the times changes.
The only “liars” in this whole melt are Killary and Bernie. And I mean liars.
i was all for cruz, walker, paul until a man with business acumen stood up. And how refreshing, he was not a lawyer. He was someone who accomplished something. Something great, and it was outside of a courtroom, thank God. And as BFH notes, the people loved what he did and said. Now if we lose our republic over this, so be it, it was going to be lost anyway at the rate we were going. And all Cruz would be is a speed bump, maybe a large one, but still just a speed bump on the highway to hell. Trump, otoh, will change the course of the road.
Hey Czar, the problems we’re confronting now in ’16 have some of the same solutions that we faced in ’80 and ’84–smaller government and less government intrusion into our lives and our God given rights–something I trust Cruz more than I trust fellow New Yorker Trump to be vigilant on.
Listingtostarboard–LBJ was trained as a teacher but as Senate majority leader was a wheeler and dealer who could put Trump to shame. Looking at all he did with his “progressive politics”, aren’t we still trying to overcome the collision course he put us on, the one that he bragged would have the blacks (he actually used the “N” word at the time) voting for the Dems for generations to come? There’s nothing wrong with attorneys being president, just dishonest ones like the last two Dems who were/are sitting in the Oval Office. But we need a lawyer who understands and will take seriously the oath to preserve and defend the Constitution, and not a businessman who thinks the Kelo decision is a good one.
Johnson was the scum of the earth no question. Govkaeyer it’s just us lesser non lawyer beings who would like to see another profession dominate politics. You know like people who are actually down in the trenches if everyday life. I have no interest in engaging you on argument –that’s what you do. Other professions avoid arguing and get the work done. That’s what is needed to salvage this country. We don’t have the luxury of another lawyer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ki6kTNm4s0