Voting for Trump? Who Else is There?

There’s too much hyperventilating going on at National Review. Donald Trump may bring about the end of the Republican Party but for years I’ve been told Republican and conservative are two distinct words. Lincoln wasn’t a conservative in the same vein as Goldwater. Theodore Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, Dwight Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, Richard Nixon and people named Bush aren’t conservative in any sense like the great Robert Taft from Ohio. Today’s conservative leaders would flummox Taft. I suspect he would be closer in thinking to Rand Paul. I didn’t see National Review and its band of 22 righties do much to get the Paul bandwagon started!

Taft wasn’t an internationalist. Same with Paul. Trump is a globalist somedays and other days he’s apparently not sure, however. Even some of the top spokesman on the left, as you can see here, have diagnosed the Gang of 22 as internationalists. They’re more about protecting their own business interests overseas and they’ll sacrifice your sons and daughters and not theirs for the cause. And/or they talk about the Constitution but would rather govern the country by the Bible. Wars and fundamentalist faith are currently out-of-vogue in America and after the Revolution many of the early founders adopted the same fashions.

Not that I think National Review will have any impact. Elitists of all stripes are currently viewed with suspicion. Need evidence they have just as much disdain for the rest of us? In the early paragraphs of NR’s battering of Trump he’s criticized for his Queens upbringing. In other words he’s not from Manhattan! Yesterday one Manhattan based writer suggested Trump’s potential ties to the mafia disqualify him from the White House. The thinking is you can’t build towers in Atlantic City or Manhattan without first coming to an “understanding” with the mob. Really? Wouldn’t it be good experience if you’re later dealing with the criminals who run many of the nations in Africa, Asia and South America?

O.K. I’ve made a point about the self-anointed arbiters of conservatism. It still doesn’t mean I’m voting for Trump. As is the case in most election contests I’m usually disappointed if not downright despondent about my choices. Paul and Jindal are out and the one candidate most closely resembling their philosophies was born in Canada. I’ve heard the arguments in favor of Ted Cruz’s eligibility and agree it passes legal muster. Still, it doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with the idea.

I’ve broken from the Republicans in the past and voted for third party candidates. None of whom ever had a snowball’s chance in Hades of winning. These have been good people, constitutionally savvy and candidates of impeccable character. None of these things appear particularly appealing when it comes to most voters. I tend too often to believe most people are looking for the same things I’m looking for and have the same needs and wants. Six years ago an old friend ran for U.S. House of Representatives as a Libertarian. His presentation skills were superb. He could break down complexity and was fully at ease before a crowd. Not only did he lose but he finished somewhere near fifth and polled worse than a candidate who could barely string two sentences together and was missing most of his teeth. At post-mortem my friend explained he just assumed everyone wanted the same things he wanted and would flock to his banner.

We’ve got a little more than ten months to make up our minds. I can say with all certainty it surely won’t be Michael Bloomberg. When he takes his opposition to firearms and quart glasses of Coca-Cola on the road he’s in for a rude awakening. Trump’s critics think he could be a totalitarian. We don’t need any more evidence about Bloomberg! Trump’s critics warn he could push the buttons and launch Armageddon and, yet. He doesn’t drink alcohol. Richard Nixon staggered around the White House 3 sheets to the wind and he didn’t launch Doomsday. So put the hyperbole aside. Come November as usual most of us will walk into a voting booth, hold our noses and pray we can last another 4 years and ask God for something akin to Lincoln come 2020.