I haven’t written anything on my blog or on Facebook or Twitter for a very long time, which is unusual for me because ordinarily I would be very active on my blog and social media during the political campaign season. However, this time has been different.
I don’t just mean that this political season has broken all molds and sent all conventional wisdom to the circular file. I also was really distracted by a big move from mainland Georgia where I had lived for almost 35 years to the island of Hawaii (the “Big Island” is really named “Hawaii” like the state). This process took all my attention and a lot of my resources (time and money). But it’s all been worth it as my wife and I see our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren several times a week instead of once a year.
Now, with the campaigns winding down and the conventions gearing up, I’ll put my two cents in. Heaven knows my opinion isn’t needed with talk radio, 24-hour TV news channels, blogs, news websites, Facebook, Twitter, ad nauseum. But here goes nothing:
I really understand my fellow conservatives’ anguish over the primary victories and subsequent nomination of Donald Trump as the Republican standard bearer, since his bona fides as a Republican are tenuous at best, and he has gored pretty much every ox held dear to the party.
But I think it’s important to point out that, if you’re like me, you’ve had to hold your nose to vote for the Republican nominee in every presidential election since 1984! I don’t remember a single time that I was able to vote enthusiastically for the Republican nominee, but I always did because the alternative was (or alternatives were) so much worse. I did really like George W. Bush personally, but he wasn’t conservative enough to suit me. I didn’t think we needed to create the Department of Homeland Security, for example. We had apparatuses in place already that could have administered the War on Terror. We already had too much bureaucracy, but government types seem to think they haven’t done anything about a problem unless they have created a new burden for taxpayers.
And that’s an area that I actually have some hope that Donald Trump might do a good job. As the quintessential outsider, his mandate, if elected, will be to change the culture of Washington. That’s no small task, I realize, but how many people get to the White House without getting stained with the Washington stench of self-preservation at all costs, of empire building and turf defending? Trump is largely self-made, warts and all, and he has already built his empire. He will go in owing no one and, with the sharp eye of a business man who has expressed alarm at the exploding national debt brought on by both parties, he may be the only one who can tame the beast. If he brings his “You’re Fired!” mantra to Washington, the results could be really positive as I see it.
I could talk about how bad the alternative candidate is, but many have done that. Even Democrats are worried that they appear to be stuck with the lackluster Hillary Clinton and all the scandals she and her husband have spawned. There is one aspect that I haven’t heard a lot though. I’m convinced that Clinton is running for President for one purpose: to get rich(er). I believe she expended most of her energy while Secretary of State in selling influence and enriching the “Clinton Foundation”. That’s why she didn’t want her emails to be public, even within the State Department. I believe she will milk the presidency in the same way.
But voting against a worse candidate is even more depressing than holding your nose to vote for your own party’s. I could also point out that a vote for the Libertarian nominee is a vote for Hillary Clinton, just as a vote for the Green Party candidate will enhance Trump’s chances.
So while a lot of Republican voters are upset about Donald Trump, I look at it and say, what’s the difference? Usually we have a milquetoast, establishment-selected candidate that engenders no enthusiasm but I vote for him anyway. This time we have a bull-in-the-china-shop that offends me with the regularity of the sunrise, but he has built an enthusiastic following. Will he disappoint? Of course, no one can be the end-all that some voters are looking for. Will he be a disaster as president? Possibly. Will he further the conservative agenda? I’d say the chances of that are about even with the likelihood of McCain, Dole, Romney, and Bush Sr. and Jr. advancing the principles I believe in.
On the other hand, if he accomplishes no more than decisively defeating the animals populating ISIS, secures the border (as much as that’s possible) and stops the bleeding of the national debt, he will have done what none (in the Obama Administration at least) thought possible. If along the way, he jump-starts the economy, puts several million Americans back to work and at the same time reduces the bloated bureacracy which is the Federal government, he will have worked miracles.
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