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Donald Trump: The Real Republican
By Mike Guadagnino IV
Like all politicians, Donald Trump manages to garner both support and criticism from either side of the political aisle. As expected, Democrats have thrown the kitchen sink at him, including accusations of being bigoted, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and misogynistic. Essentially, they have found a name to call him in response to every statement he’s made while also accusing him of name-calling in the process. But that really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with electoral politics. What has been more of a surprise is the way some Republicans have turned against their party’s nominee, and this resistance to Trump is likely coming for one of two reasons: either 1) Republicans are spending too much time exposed to liberal media that picks and chooses quotes and facial expressions that push their agenda without showing the full context of Trump’s statements or 2) Republicans have forgotten what it means to be a Republican.
The Libertarian Party hit the nail on the head with their claims that present-day Democrats want to regulate your business and Republicans want to regulate your bedroom. The Republican Party, from Lincoln to Reagan, has historically been based on freedom. Wanting to keep government out of your life is the staple of being republican, but that set of beliefs has been shoved to the corner where Ron and Rand Paul hopelessly try to remind neo-conservatives where the party started. Unfortunately, these neo-cons have slowly strayed farther and farther away from what once made the party great. Nowadays, Democrats try to raise taxes, regulate banks, and blame big money for all of the country’s problems, and, until this election cycle, Republicans wanted to force everyone to live by their set of values and lose all sense of individuality. Fortunately, Donald Trump has no interest in falling into either of those destructive groups. Instead, he supports tax breaks and deregulation of big businesses to stimulate economic growth while also supporting a state’s right to choose its policies on issues such as marijuana legalization and education. The best of both worlds.
Some time in recent history, Christian conservatives developed themselves into Christian-conservatives, and that seemingly insignificant change has become the downfall of the once great party. Donald Trump is a Christian conservative while Ted Cruz is a Christian-conservative. Donald Trump wants to use his Christian values to lead the country in the right direction while Ted Cruz wants to impose his Christian values on the Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists, and everyone else in the country, regardless of their beliefs. What better way to isolate an evolving base of American citizens than to limit the Grand Old Party to “good Christians.” Americans must be good Americans, not necessarily good Christians. We have a secular government for a reason. As a country, we must respect and embrace each other’s differences in opinions, not force those around us to think the same as we do. Progress is created through the butting of heads and sharing of ideas. The last thing this country needs is a set of robots that all think exactly the same. That’s not an American society. That’s not going to generate progress. In November 2015, Trump said the happiest people have great families and God in their lives. However, unlike Christian-conservatives, Christian conservative Donald Trump won’t force you to accept God and Christian values in your life. He just asks you behave like a good citizen. Christian conservative. Not Christian-conservative.
Nothing epitomized rejection of this old, stale, and close-minded way of thinking better than when Ted Cruz was booed from the stage at the Republican National Convention. The delegates and other attendees rejected his outdated way of thinking. They showed that they will no longer settle for politicians who refuse to open their minds to the constantly evolving world in which we live. They will support Donald J. Trump.
Trump has rightfully given up on trying to convince hypocritical Democrats to join his cause. By hypocritical Democrats, I am referring to the ones who call Trump a racist bigot and then make fun of Melania Trump for her accent. The ones who call Trump corrupt yet support a should-be felon. The ones who call Trump a sexist but support a candidate who shamed her husband’s mistress while she was First Lady rather than standing up for her fellow woman who was wrongfully dismissed from the White House after telling the country about Bill Clinton’s serious flaws. They support that same Bill Clinton to live in the White House for the next four years. However, the Donald can still try to sway the minds of the undecided voters who see Hillary’s track record of lies and deceit. The voters who see that we don’t need to vote for her just because she’s been in politics before. Experience does not imply competence, and it certainly doesn’t for Clinton.
Americans have now been presented with two strong choices for the leader of the free world, and no, neither of them is named Clinton. Gary Johnson is the Libertarian Party nominee for President, and he represents a party that carries on the ideology that made the United States a great nation. An ideology consisting of freedom, not big government. However, Johnson does not have a legitimate chance without a miracle in the Electoral College, but Donald Trump does. Donald Trump is the quintessence of what a Republican should be today. He stands strong against terror; he supports the police officers who keep this country safe; he refuses to be satisfied with poor trade deals and out-of-control debt. Additionally, he stands for the rights of all Americans. He stands for LGBTQ rights; he stands for our right to bear arms to defend ourselves from criminals and keep the government in check; he supports the rights of individual states to govern themselves with laws that speak to the wishes and values of their people. He supports your right to live in a country that is great. That is why Donald Trump will Make America Great Again.
Well said,love Trump!
Hey Mike! Glad to see someone else writing about the race for President! Just a few questions for you I’m curious to hear you answer that I mean to not come across as snarky, but just very direct and to the point.
1. Conservative and libertarian minded Republicans like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul consistently talk about freedom and the Constitution yet they both seem to be disliked by the Party and the establishment leaders, yet beloved by many in the grassroots. Even the nominee said nasty things about the both of them during the campaign. Why do you think that disconnect continues to exist?
2. As a Christian, conservative, and then Republican as Mike Pence likes to say, it should be noted that evangelicals are the fastest growing segment of religion in America (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/evangelical-protestants-are-the-biggest-winners-when-people-change-faiths/) so it would be foolish to say their say should be put away with because its creating a downfall in the party. Think of the people who have come up second the last few times for the GOP nod: Huckabee, Santorum, Cruz – all people known for their strong faith background and values. Then look at how the actual winner of the party did in the election: McCain = lose, Romney = lose, Trump = unknown. Do you think that is happenstance correlation or causation?
3. Why is it always the Christians who want to “force beliefs” onto everyone else when the Democrats want to force their views on us as well but that is under the guise of “it’s for your benefit”? I don’t remember Cruz saying that because he’s a strong Christian that all of a sudden when elected President, Christianity is going to become our official religion and that mosques and temples are going to be shut down. Likewise, Trump has not drank or smoked in his entire life, both principles that I admire greatly. However, nobody is going around saying that if Trump is elected President that smoking will be banned and Prohibition is coming back. Is it because people believe someone like Cruz but not someone like Trump? I’m honestly curious.
I have very strong feelings about why I’m not voting for Hillary but in many respects, if I hold Trump to the same standards, I can’t support him either as my series has been laying out. Johnson is also too liberal for me and you are right, it would take a miracle for him to win 270 electoral votes outright, though there is a slightly better chance he could win a few states and then if Trump wins a few swing states, nobody could get to 270 and we’d then enter interesting territory.
Ryan,
I’m glad to hear some feedback, and I would be happy to answer your questions.
1) I think Rand Paul would have been a great candidate for president, but I don’t believe he ever really had the chance to get his message heard. This is partially because the base of the party thinks he is too radical, even though there should be nothing wrong with going against the standard quo. Remember, he was only in the debates that featured way too many candidates. Cruz’s message was heard loud and clear, but I was glad to see the majority of the party reject his close-mindedness, although, yes, some grassroots will still support him.
2) You may have misread, but I don’t want Evangelical Christian to feel disenfranchised by the party. I made a clear distinction between Christian conservatives and Christian-conservatives. We want people with strong ethics and values leading the country, but our laws should not be based on a religion’s beliefs, nor should a president let his personal bias (generated by his religion) get in the way of doing what is best for the country. John McCain and Mitt Romney ran horrendous campaigns far from worthy of the presidency. There is correlation between the effectiveness of your campaign and the results of the election. They didn’t lose because they weren’t Evangelical enough.
3) Besides on abortion, I really don’t think Democrats try to force their beliefs at all. They just have different ideas about how to fix the economy and how to deal with foreign policy than Republicans. Trump will not try to ban alcohol just because he doesn’t drink. Ted Cruz would try to ban gay marriage due to his personal bias. That’s the difference.
Gary Johnson is not a liberal. He is fiscally conservative and socially whatever, as he likes to say. He sees the value in letting people live their lives according to their beliefs as long as they are not harming anyone else. What’s so wrong with that?