Coming from a Cruz supporter that may seem hardly surprising. But in many primary battles I have been saddened by the departure of the vanquished because they were pretty good candidates, responsible and supportable. That has included some from this year’s presidential election. But as we said more than a month ago it is time for Trump to go.
We have made a lot of excuses for Donald Trump. Some of his “controversial” statements I have written off as ill-considered under the heat of debate even though I have heard disconcerting remarks during controlled campaign appearances where Trump has had every opportunity to choose his words more carefully. So a certain amount of his bombast is excusable but other is off-putting at best.
We have defended him against false or hypocritical attacks. We have credited his “good bombast” with beneficially embarrassing the Republican Party establishment by voicing widespread pent-up and deserved disgust with their performance. Trump has helped achieve needed emphasis on uncontrolled immigration as the politically, culturally and economically crucial issue it is by his bombast in spite of exhibiting little ability to consistently articulate legitimate concerns. His equally bombastic expressions of disdain for the party elites and, for the most part, the media, are enjoyable and we have given him credit for heaping ridicule on those quarters as it is due.
However in the last couple of months there have been public statements by Trump so disconcerting that should he defeat my candidate Ted Cruz for the nomination, that Trump has eliminated any possibility of enthusiasm for his candidacy. The situation for a while has been that such a vote could only come from the momentary holding of my nose to vote for him and hope for the best.
Some of his positions, if he does not lose a Republican Congress in his wake, might come into effect, and there is no good that could come from a Clinton or a Sanders. He could not be worse in the short-term than who the Democrats put up. But he could be as bad in the long-term as so many establishment Republicans and their policies. For example, his immigration policy seems to be “deport them but have a big gate for them to get back in.” It amounts to an amnesty policy that he accuses others of and derides. Ted Cruz has the strongest and clearest “anti-amnesty” position.
With his continued attacks on women’s looks Trump has surely jumped to the asinine and I do not know how he can recover and win a general election. The damage he is doing to himself and the damage to the chances of conservatives receiving the votes of those with less a gag reflex than me is great. That some of his Iowa supporters who I admire are not taking their leave from his campaign is a disappointment even though I understand the pull of a paycheck — Mr. Clovis, Mr. Laudner.
Trump has approached the presidential campaign as something akin to pro-wrestling hoopla. Say anything, pound your chest, insult. But fans of that genre know that it is all about nothing, whoever achieves the championship belt is of no great consequence in the real world. That is not true of leadership of a constitutional republic and we hope his fans will quickly come to realize that.
Trumps latest “tweets” directed against Cruz and his wife eliminates any chance for substantial support from many conservative Republicans in a general election. Trump started the nonsense and has now made it too high a hurdle for many who cherish their vote. Based on consistent polling this is also true for Republican and no-party women across the board.
Trump has extremely high negatives and I believe he has plateaued. Every blue collar male he is said to be gaining, as they shoot themselves in the foot instead of opting for a constitutional conservative like Ted Cruz, will be countered by women disgusted by Trump shooting themselves in the foot to vote Democrat.
There is no excuse for someone who aspires to represent America’s best leadership qualities to behave the way Trump has. Nothing others have done calls for it. His message of late is not mere bombast it is petulant and vile, irresponsibly promulgating the worst political bilge against his rivals
Trump has made voting for him an even harder choice, requiring a much tighter pinch of the nose than I experienced with some previous Republican establishment picks. It is on the verge of being impossible without losing my nose.
Trump continues to threaten to run as a third-party candidate should he not get the Republican nomination if he is not, in his opinion, treated fairly. Never mind his incompetence in delegate placement. He blusters such all the while treating his rivals for the nomination with juvenile contempt, lying and distorting their records beyond the pale of anything said about him from their lips.
Go ahead and run third party if you must Donald, although it is probably too late. Even a pathetic Republican Party so poorly led that it didn’t seriously try to make good on campaign promises, that succumbed to “open primary” nonsense and voting weeks before the fixed election, and other such nonsense that allowed your rise, does not deserve what you have revealed yourself to be.
R Mall
