Skarp wrote:PDad wrote:Skarp wrote:My take on the other 4 candidates is that there are no other candidates. Trump is a man uniquely qualified for this task at this time. I thought he was going to be a joke too...until he started talking. I am now in absolute awe of the man. The media, the establishment, the billionaire donor class, the cancer of political correctness--he is single-handedly burning it ALL down.
Cruz is an abortion. Even supposing he could get elected (which he can't), he wouldn't be able to get anything done. His peers despise him, and he's got the popular appeal of a slug. (Yes and no. Not getting anything done is better than continuing down the ever expanding government path. Congress is generally gridlocked anyway and Cruz might motivate them to team up against him.) Trump will go in with a mandate, and will have the ability to appeal directly to the electorate when congress tries to obstruct his agenda--much like Reagan was able to do. (I expect Trump would bring new meaning to the bully pulpit.)
Kasich isn't even worth talking about. Complete disaster, ala Bush, Rubio, etc.
(Definitely not the cycle for candidates like him.)
Actually I did see a socialist coming, but I thought it would be Fauxcahontas--and I expected her to win the nomination. (I agree Warren would have if she had chosen to run.) This was always going to be a populist election cycle. What is stunning is how completely clueless the establishment/pundits/media have been as this phenomenon has unfolded. These people have zero understanding of what it means to be a real person in the real world. They are yesterday's men, and they deserve to look as stupid as they do.
Hillary Clinton is a terminally flawed, uber-establishment candidate, and Donald Trump is an unparalleled master at identifying and branding flaws. He is the apotheosis of "alpha-male." The man doesn't even understand the concept of defense. We've got months of popcorn-munching joy ahead of us (Yes, please come back and share more as this unfolds.)
Good stuff! Any concerns about Trump on foreign policy/relations?
With respect to Cruz, two things:
First, he's an original Bushie who has recast himself as a died-in-the-wool conservative. He has done so by grandstanding on unwinnable issues/votes, and by some super shady tactics like voting for cloture on TPA (which votes are not officially recorded) and then show-voting against TPA when it was certain to pass. As between TPP and open borders, I'll take open borders; at least we keep our sovereignty. Bottom line: Cruz is a globalist who is entirely beholden to big globalist interests (Goldman Sachs, anyone?). He's also a power seeker. You get the sense the guy has been running for president since he was 13.
Second, even assuming the best about Cruz, getting nothing done is no longer an option at this point. We need someone who can take a chainsaw to the leviathan, not just press pause until one more generation of anchor babies turn voting age and tip us irrecoverably over the edge. (Honestly I thought we had already passed that point until Trump stepped up, and we probably are regardless...).
Trump on foreign relations? The best we've seen in living memory. All of Reagan's strengths, and none of his weaknesses. No more interventionism. No more nation-building. No trying to force-feed democracy to cave-dwelling savages. No deposing stable dictators in favor of radical mobs. Slow to fight, but fight like a junkyard dog when we do. No unfair rules of engagement guaranteed to send American boys home in body bags. Massive reinvestment in military strength, but no more subsidizing the defense of the entire world; everyone pays their fair share or can defend their damn selves. Reliability with our friends, unpredictability with our enemies. An unparalleled understanding of leverage, and how to use it. A willingness to look for new friends (e.g., Russia) in a world that is dramatically different from the one in which old lines were drawn. I could go on and on. Above all, a willingness to stand up for American interests on the international stage the way all other countries stand up for their own interests. No more bad deals for America, and if that means we lose some "friends," so be it. Trump knows when it's time to walk away.
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