PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Lucifer on March 30, 2016, 09:06:40 AM
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http://thefederalist.com/2016/03/29/why-i-support-donald-trump/
Since I consider myself a traditional conservative, many friends of mine, on both the Right and the Left, are puzzled by my unwavering support for Donald Trump.
Their bewilderment is understandable. Trump is often rude and obnoxious. His demeanor can be arrogant and dismissive. At times, he comports himself as reckless and willing to lash out prematurely, prior to fully understanding all of the facts at hand. To put it simply, he is a “wrecking ball.”
Furthermore, Trump isn’t even a pure conservative in terms of policy; he is a populist. His statements over the years regarding such areas as limited government, religious liberty, states’ rights, and abortion have been inconsistent at best, and in some cases, have steered firmly to the left.
Still, given all of this baggage, I have my feet planted firmly in Camp Trump. But why? How can a principled, pragmatic, deliberate conservative be drawn to such a candidate? It is because I believe conservatism doesn’t stand a chance in this country without first delivering a very heavy dose of populism.
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That's quite the endorsement. I guess if populism is the theme of the day, I guess Trump fits in will with other self-defined populists such as Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, George Wallace, and Ross Perot. Well done.
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That's quite the endorsement. I guess if populism is the theme of the day, I guess Trump fits in will with other self-defined populists such as Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, George Wallace, and Ross Perot. Well done.
Could you stretch the phrase any further without having it come back and slap you like an over stretched rubber band? Or do you only see the extremes in terms like "Populism".
Populism is a doctrine that appeals to the interests and conceptions (such as hopes and fears) of the general population, especially when contrasting any new collective consciousness push against the prevailing status quo interests of any predominant political sector.
It sounds to me like you just looooove the Status Quo and you don't want anyone to push against it.
(PS, I don't think that is true of you; but that is how you sound).
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I enjoyed the article.
In my opinion, the author has ascribed to Trump those positions and qualities he appreciates, but which Trump himself has failed to articulate clearly and with any amount of substance. In fairness, I am a Liberal and neither a trump supporter nor expert, though I do stay generally abreast of politics on both sides.
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Could you stretch the phrase any further without having it come back and slap you like an over stretched rubber band? Or do you only see the extremes in terms like "Populism".
It sounds to me like you just looooove the Status Quo and you don't want anyone to push against it.
(PS, I don't think that is true of you; but that is how you sound).
Populism was in the last line of the OP, I didn't make it up.
And yes, history has shown that there is a real potential downside in the concept of Populism. We even had a Populist Party or the "People's Party" in the late 1800s. It merged into the Democratic Party after existing for about 6 years, and was formed by "angry" farmers critical of capitalism.
Sounds familiar.