#MAYBETRUMP!
Donald Trump.
Not a fan, never have been.
As a conservative, I’ve never viewed him as a
true conservative. As a fellow New
Yorker, I am all too familiar with his real business history to see him as a
creator of value. As a student of
history I see in some of his followers (more than in other strains of the
conservative movement), a tendency to populism and nationalism that is
uninformed and reactionary.
#NeverTrump? Not quite.
#ProbablyNotTrump is more like how I’ve been feeling lately.
#WhatisTrumpOfffering? Can he make commitments to conservatism that
make a difference to me?
I would
likely be a #NeverTrump, I fall into that camp, emotionally. But as I work out my options for November
assuming a Trump nomination I have to do some calculations.
My wife and
others have mentioned the possibility of outright voting for Hillary, based on
her long experience, and the lesser of two evils theory. I am seriously considering Gary Johnson,
a candidate I am closer to ideologically than either Trump or Clinton. There is also the ongoing threat/discussion
of a 3rd party conservative candidate, who might very well be
someone I would be inclined to support.
Many of my
conservative friends, inclined to the #NeverTrump lane, are considering the 3rd
party option, likely voting for Gary Johnson if a conservative alternate does
not appear. Those inclined towards
#NeverTrump insist that a vote for a third candidate is not a vote for Hillary
Clinton.
They are
half right. It is a vote for someone who
cannot and will not beat Hillary Clinton.
I have traditionally been against protest votes, even when the
Republican Party Candidate is not my preferred choice. Until this race I have never seriously
considered the option because while it is personally and ideologically
satisfying to one’s integrity and one’s ego, the gesture is empty and
essentially concedes the contest to the opposition.
I have not
decided not to vote for Gary Johnson, I am still reserving my final
decision, as Trump is as personally unpalatable a Republican Candidate as I
have ever really contemplated. But…
One phrase
keeps rolling about in my consciousness:
“IT’S THE
SUPREME COURT STUPID!”
It is! The Republican Senate is fighting a delaying
action to prevent President Obama from replacing originalist Justice Antonin
Scalia with liberal Merrick Garland.
Should they succeed, and every day that passes without a hearing is a
tactical victory, then the next POTUS gets to choose the balance of the SCOTUS.
Trump or Clinton!
Even if the
GOP Senate folds, conservatives must consider the future of the Court.
While there
is no guarantee that President Donald Trump would nominate an originalist, or
even a conservative he has indicated a willingness to do so. Hillary, on the other
hand, will surely nominate liberals who would destroy what second amendment
rights we have left while continuing the assaults on the first and the tenth.
Donald Trump
cannot “Make America Great Again,” it IS Already Great. He can and may do some harm to the nation, as
Hillary Clinton surely would. He is
likely to in the end do great damage to the Republican party, it’s fabric, and
its brand. Will he do less harm overall
than Hillary Clinton? Will I have to vote for him, despite my misgivings?
“It’s The
Supreme Court Stupid!”
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