I have heaped my share of criticisms on Donald Trump and am still not sure he would be the strongest candidate to run in the general election. However, I am starting to understand why such a wide range of people are supporting him--from secular conservatives and moderates (such as Jesse Ventura, Carl Icahn, Gary Buse) to staunch religious conservatives (such as Sarah Palin, Phyllis Schlafly, Jerry Falwell Jr., and Robert Jeffress)--and why even people like Bob Dole have said that although they are supporting someone else they would gladly back Trump if he gets the nomination because they think he's an intelligent, effective leader who would make a good president.
Most of these people grasp the one key, central, overriding fact about Donald Trump: He is an American first and foremost and a Republican a distant second, and he judges every policy by whether or not it would be best for America, regardless of how some other people or nations might feel about it.
Trump's economic plan is clearly center-right and would be a huge step forward from where we are now. However, overall he is not the most conservative GOP candidate. In fact, were it not for his positions on immigration and internal security, he would be widely regarded as the least conservative GOP candidate and perhaps even as something of a moderate with conservative leanings on some issues. Overall, he is a conservative, but he is not as conservative as Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, or Marco Rubio, among others.
The key difference with Trump, aside from his centrist and even liberal views on a few issues, and what makes him so appealing to so many people, is that he is a genuine patriot who puts loyalty to country far above loyalty to any political party and who has no qualms about criticizing Republican policies and leaders when he disagrees with them, including the Iraq War, George W, Bush, etc., etc.
No offense to you, but this is a giant load of horse apples.
The one key, central, overriding fact about Donald Trump: he's a narcissist first and foremost, and EVERYTHING is a distant second; he judges every policy by whether or not it benefits Donald Trump at the moment, regardless of whether or not it's good for the United States, or even whether or not it contradicts his own statements previously.
Trump's economic plan is clearly Trump-centric, and designed to benefit billionaire real estate developers like Donald Trump. It might benefit other people; in might not. Either way, it's irrelevant to Trump. His positions on immigration and internal security aren't "conservative"; they're childish and xenophobic. He would be widely regarded as the least conservative GOP candidate because he IS the least conservative GOP candidate. Up until six months or so before announcing his candidacy, he was a liberal. Not moderate; LIBERAL.
1) He supported Obama's stimulus, calling it "what we need", talking about Obama "building infrastructure, building great projects, putting people to work in that sense".
2) He supported the auto bailouts, saying, "The government should stand behind them 100%, because they make wonderful products".
3) He supported the bank bailouts, calling them "something that has to get done".
4) Far from championing that most basic conservative principle - smaller, less-invasive government - Trump promises even more of the one-man-rule, governing-by-fiat experience that we've had under Barack Obama.
5) He has advocated a massive wealth tax. Not an income tax, a tax on ASSETS.
6) He has a history of raising money for far-left liberals like the Clintons and Al Sharpton. In October 2011, he told Sean Hannity, "I was Obama's biggest cheerleader." He has donated to the Clinton Foundation, and donated to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
7) He has a history of championing Planned Parenthood; is anyone REALLY buying his sudden "evolution" to being pro-life CONVENIENTLY timed just as he decided to run for the GOP nomination?
8) He has a history of championing single-payer health coverage, saying, "Everybody's got to be covered" and "the government's going to pay for it".
9) He wrote in his book
The America We Deserve that he supported a ban on "assault weapons". Miraculously, he "evolved" on that last year also, right before announcing his candidacy.
10) He's a BIG fan of eminent domain, otherwise known as "no such thing as a right to own property". He even tried to use it to bully an old woman out of her home because he wanted to build a parking lot there. He refers to that as "the greater good".
11) He's not only been in business with George Soros, he had a RICO complaint filed against him in regards to that deal. That might ought to give pause to some of the people excoriating Ted Cruz for getting a loan from Goldman Sachs.
OF COURSE he's never had qualms about criticizing Republicans; that's because HE'S ALWAYS BEEN A LIBERAL.
If you can find me any of these apocryphal "conservative, patriotic" positions of his that date farther back than last year, I'd love to hear them.
Donald Trump is Barack Obama in Republican clothing.
