I’ve not made much mention about Donald Trump on the blog if for no other reason than he certainly doesn’t require my approval for any move he makes. However, with the most recent kerfuffle regarding John McCain, I felt it was time to put phalanges to black keys.
That is because we, meaning Conservatives, are on the cusp of losing the presidency once again; not because we didn’t vote or decided to stay home but because we became what I will call “Perot’ed.”
One nice thing about being older is having a memory, as it is, with regard to America’s history. Ross Perot, another wealthy individual not customarily linked to overt politics save those required to build his company, decided to enter the 1992 presidential contest as a third party candidate. His vacuuming of votes from then-president George HW Bush resulted in the installation of Bill Clinton as president, though Clinton won only 42% of the national vote. Perot himself won 19% of the vote — the greatest for a third party candidate since Theodore Roosevelt with his “Bull Moose” party of 1912.
I credit Trump for bringing certain issues to the forefront, primarily those of illegal immigration.
However, Trump’s venture into the verbal battle with John McCain proved that I cannot take Trump seriously for what I consider to be some very good reasons.
In my opinion Senator McCain “started it” with his pejoratives towards Trump. Trump verbally retaliated. I don’t believe it’s any more complicated than that. McCain made it “personal” in the eyes of Donald Trump. And therein lies the problem.
Certainly Trump can be as bombastic as he wishes because of the monetary buffer he possesses. He is unlike any other candidate in that regard. But upon closer examination one discovers that Mr Trump has supported Democrats and their causes in the past, written them large checks, and is a friend of Hillary Clinton. Taken in a business perspective, this is understandable. Trump’s world is New York as was Hillary Clinton’s. In business you frequently have to play both sides of the street. I just have to be convinced now, in order to vote for him, that Mr Trump is truly a reformed Democrat.
I find myself not so convinced, unlike others.
Trump is who he is, there’s no denying. He’s loud, flamboyant, larger-than-life, and broadcasts his appearance via the neon-orange shellacked nest of material atop his pate.
What he isn’t, however, is politically astute.
Certainly, he has negotiated tremendous financial deals sitting down at ebon tables, that much is readily apparent.
But when as powerful a man as Trump takes a comment personally to the point that he retaliates with even greater overwrought (and apparently ill-thought-out) rhetoric, he proves to me that he can be unbalanced in his application of critical thinking skills.
To the point that he may be manipulated.
It is now no secret that, should Trump be elected president, he can be swayed or purposely engineered into speech or actions that are predicated upon either emotions or his own immediate personal reactions and feelings.
Yes, Donald Trump is getting good poll numbers at this point. And yes, it is understandable that people are tired of staid politicians and yearn for something fresh and new on the political stage. I get that.
But I can’t see handing a vote to Trump when he has proved, time and again, that he is not to be trusted with consistency. He’s in, he’s out. He’s serious, he isn’t. He says he’s serious now. He’s funding his own campaign. He’s making what I believe are totally off-the-cuff speeches.
It shows.
You have to be able to play the long game. Trump is having difficulty playing the short game.
But here’s the caveat.
As Trump — if Trump — continues to take the air out of the room, we as Conservatives and the Republicans are in danger of revisiting 1992 all over again. Trump could siphon a certain percentile of votes away from the GOP to do nothing more than guarantee a win for Hillary or another Demorat candidate.
What keeps me from walking away away totally from the GOP this time around can be condensed down into one consideration: SCOTUS.
Think about that aspect.
BZ
P.S.
Michael Beckman has a wonderful article about Trump here. Please read.
