*** Conservative Only Forum ***
So I was wondering how conservatives really feel about President Trump.
I find myself agreeing with him on virtually every issue. I can't think of any President in my lifetime that I can say that about.
I mean do you like him? Are you positive about his leading the country?
Yes, generally speaking.
Do you support him because he is the republican nominee and wish someone else had been nominated?
I don't consider myself a Republican. (That's how I'm registered to vote, but I don't have any loyalty to the party as such.) I actively dislike some prominent Republicans such as Mitt Romney and the Bill Kristol "never trump" crowd. I don't like the sort of Republicans who insist that the country's biggest issue is lowering taxes on the rich. (I'm more inclined to agree with Bernie Sanders on that - eat the rich.) I'm an
American nationalist and believe that US policies should be crafted in the interests of the American people, not the interests of multinational corporations. I consider myself an adherent of the 'alternative right', a more populist tendency than old-style Wall Street Republicanism. I weight social issues much higher than 'woke' New York city corporate executives do.
Do you accept him has faults, maybe many faults but he is better than the alternative?
Given that the only alternatives at the moment are democrats, people who I viscerally dislike, there's little choice.
That being said, I think that if somebody appeared who was more effective at promoting a Trumpist-style populist agenda, I'd probably favor that person. Trump himself is a very flawed vehicle for some very good ideas.
To me Trump is a politician, not particularly a good one but I don't expect much from politicians.
I disagree with that. Trump
isn't a politician. That's both his strength and his weakness. He isn't a swamp creature, one of the Washington DC beltway insiders that move from government job to government job, with academic appointments and think-tank gigs in between. The kind of people who hold real power behind the scenes and really run the country no matter which party is in power. Trump is an outsider and he was elected on a pledge to uproot the professional political class. And that's earned him their undying hatred. The occupants of all of those big office buildings in Washington, at least their executive suites, all hate him. They've tried to subvert his administration since before he was even elected. And that's left the President isolated and in a position where he can't trust any of the career officials around him.
The narrative from the left however is just amazing. I'm willing to listen but the "evil orange man" is really pushing against any credibility the left has.
The democrats are simply motivated by hatred at this point. They had a wakeup call in 2016, when they could have asked themselves why many working class democrats abandoned them and handed Trump most of the midwest. Instead they swung into their "Russia collusion" narrative, led by the
New York Times and the
Washington Post. Trump was about to go down, any day now! Any day! The walls were closing in! It was the beginning of the end! Or so they hoped and prayed. But reality wasn't kind to them.
The democrats don't seem to have any coherent program or a vision for the country at this point that can appeal to the kind of voters they need so badly. The party's biggest concerns have seemed for years to be illegal aliens and transvestites. Now they've come out swinging as the anti-white party. They want to abolish the police and with it law and order. It's obvious why they feel that they have to say those crazy things, to keep their unstable coalition of single-issue special interest groups together, but it's not likely to appeal to the blue collar white voters who are abandoning them en-masse.
The democrats seemed to have sensed that weakness, at least the party leadership did. That's why they tilted so obviously towards Joe Biden. Biden is an old style 20th century democrat who they felt, perhaps rightly, could appeal to the kind of voters they needed. Except that the left-activists will have none of it. So they started this little anti-police and anti-white race rebellion in hopes of outflanking Biden to his left. Which is almost guaranteed to push those blue collar white voters into voting for Trump once again.
Democrats know that they can't run against Trump on the issues so they choose instead to make the whole thing about personality, about Trump the man. The appeal seems to be that -- Ok, Trump's best on your issues. But he's such a terrible person, and Joe Biden isn't all that bad on your issues (no really, he isn't) so you should hold your nose, grit your teeth and vote for Joe. Except... this recent wave of rioting, rebellion and race hatred is killing that strategy as we speak. Biden himself isn't helping when he appears feeble and senile, hiding in his basement. Maybe that isn't fair, but if it isn't an accurate appraisal of Joe, then he needs to campaign a lot more forcefully... while keeping the party activist base on board... while reaching out to socially conservative white working class voters. Good luck making that work.
I know some on these forums seem to really like him. Do you really like him or is it more a matter of supporting conservative idealism?
I support his agenda and his issues. As for the man, I think that he's a flawed vehicle but he's the best we have at the moment. I'd love to see somebody in 2024 that would be stronger than Trump and advance his populist agenda more effectively. Of course a lot of that depends on getting control of Congress.