Many Republicans, including staunch conservatives like me, have grown very distrustful of the Republican Establishment. The same people who forced Bob Dole, John McCain, and Mitt Romney onto us are the people who pushed too many mainstream RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) into Congress. The results have been lukewarm at best.
Conservatives who have craved a candidate like Ronald Reagan for decades finally have some good choices in the mix. Ted Cruz is by far the most Reaganesque of them all, but there are other strong leaders in the mix. Unfortunately, the year that we have great choices happens to be the year that Donald Trump came to the party. His exceptionally powerful salesmanship is drowning out the message from the better candidates because that’s what he has always been able to do. Whether in business, entertainment, or now in the world of politics, Donald Trump represents the ultimate pitch man and people are buying into it.
I really like Donald Trump. He’s smart and he’s able to frame the discussions the way they should be framed. He helped to bring immigration to the forefront. He has rightly called out oppressive government programs designed to keep the economy stagnant. He has pointed out that there are deficiencies in the various agreements we’ve seen coming through such as the Iran nuclear deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. On terrorism, he says that something must be done and has even offered ideas that, while popular, are utterly untenable.
The problem is that his proposed solutions have no substance. His standard response when pressed for details can always be summed up with two words. “Believe me.” He says it with such conviction and confidence that people do as they’re commanded. They believe him. This allows him to run his campaign of sound bites and catchphrases that get people excited. Donald Trump is the Presidential candidate equivalent of the football player in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
According to the polls, about 1 in 3 Republicans are buying into his pitch. They are sick of what the Republican Establishment has done to the country and they see Trump as the most enjoyable of the candidates who are saying the right thing. Rand Paul is saying most of the right things, but he gets a minuscule fraction of the coverage. Cruz is getting more coverage, but not nearly at the level of Trump. Carson is saying great things, but he’s not as charismatic as Trump. The rest of the candidates are either irrelevant or are part of the Republican Establishment that brought us to where we are today.
By going after the issues with sound bites rather than policy points, Trump is appealing to the less sophisticated voters. The funny part is that these voters are the very voters that the Republican party has craved for the last two elections. These are the voters who put and kept Barack Obama in the White House. They’re the voters who fall for a sales pitch rather than ideologically sound progress. They’re the gullible voters and Trump has them wrapped around his finger the way that Obama did. The difference is that Obama only made enemies of Republicans. Trump is making enemies among Republicans, Democrats, and the all-important Independents. This is why he might be able to win the nomination but he will never be able to win in the general election.
Trump has done some great things for the country already by calling our attention to the important problems. Unfortunately, he’s only able to scratch the surface. His solutions are too thin. America needs substance, which is why we support Cruz even if Trump has some great basic ideas.
The post After Republicans Establishment Failures, Donald Trump Preys on the Gullible appeared first on Conservative Haven.
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