Time to Unite Behind Trump

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Is Donald Trump the perfect Republican Candidate?  Absolutely not.  Is he a Republican in the first place?  I think he might be, but overall he's a wild card.  Is Donald Trump a better candidate than the other GOP candidates he beat?  In some cases, but not in all of them.  Is Donald Trump a better candidate for President of the United States than Hillary Clinton?  You bet your bottom dollar he is.

After Donald Trump completed his solid victory in the Indiana Primary (after struggling in States who hold caucuses), his competitors in the GOP race (Ted Cruz and John Kasich) promptly suspended their campaigns.  The cleared path makes Donald Trump the presumptive Republican Candidate in the 2016 Presidential Election.

I know there are people out there who are determined to support the #nevertrump movement even now that Donald Trump is the inevitable Republican nominee (save for Republican Party Establishment shenanigans).  They are entitled to their opinion.  Many of the #nevertrump folks (the ones who are registered Republicans, anyway), however, were also the same folks complaining in 2012 that many people refused to vote for Romney because they didn't think he was conservative enough, or because he was Mormon.  Some folks on the other side actually believed that Romney may be something worse than Obama!

Early on during this latest campaign for President, when there were seventeen candidates, I was not a fan of billionaire Donald Trump.  I told people I wasn't sure Trump believed the words that were coming out of his mouth.  I supported Governor Scott Walker, with Rand Paul running second on my list.  I am a constitutionalist, and for me those were the logical choices.  I especially liked Walker not only because of his track record as the Governor of Wisconsin, but I tend to have a more favorable opinion towards governors because they have executive experience I believe to be very important to when it comes to being the President of the United States.  Ted Cruz remained among my top considerations too, though I had reservations regarding his lack of eligibility to be President of the United States, and his lack of executive experience.  Nonetheless, I told people that if Ted Cruz got the nomination I would still vote for him because I would take an ineligible Ted Cruz over Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders any day of the week.

Trump comes across as a brazen authoritarian.  His nationalist political complexion had me convinced that Donald Trump was not a conservative product of the GOP as much as he might be someone who would be a Republican version of Barack Obama.  He's loud, outside the system, inexperienced, and he can't be controlled (which is largely exactly why his supporters have liked him since the beginning of the 2016 GOP primary season).  I have called him the "biggest hammer in the rock yard."  To his supporters, he's the stick in the spokes of the establishment.  He's like an uncontrolled explosion on the scene blasting anything and everyone who gets in his way.  "Liar!" he screamed explosively and continuously.  "Liar, Liar, Liar!"

If you listen carefully, you are not even sure exactly where he stands on some issues.  Sometimes, he says things that leaves you scratching your head.  He's a wild card.  I don't believe Trump is conservative in the way that I am, but I also don't believe he's a liberal democrat in the way that the #nevertrump crowd thinks.  He's an American, and he thinks he can stop the downward slide this country has been in, especially under the hard left clutches of Barack Obama.

For many, Barack Obama was the straw that broke the camel's back.  They got involved in politics for the first time in their life because of the hard left policies of the first black president.  Obama's leftist policies frightened them, and they were convinced they had to get involved to save the country from Obama's anti-constitutional plan to fundamentally change foundations of the United States.

I think the same goes for Mr. Trump, actually.

The prevailing opinion among Trump's opposition in the Republican Party is that Trump has spent his life more as a liberal Democrat than as anything remotely near a conservative.  He's had business dealings with the Clintons, and according to those doubters of Trump's intentions he only become a Republican over the last few months because it was a way to achieve something he wants. . . winning the presidency.  My co-host, JASmius, has even suggested that once Trump is in office (if he beats his Democrat opponent - which JASmius believes is unlikely) Mr. Trump would resign shortly afterward.  He wants the prize, but not the position.

As a result of all of this hullabaloo, I have decided to study Trump, to use a little logic, because as much as I think there may be some truth to what the #nevertrump folks say, I still believe Donald Trump as President of the United States would be vastly better than Hillary Clinton in the White House.  I also believe that Donald Trump loves America, and no matter how misguided some of his opinions may seem, or how little he understands the original intent of the U.S. Constitution, he desires to do the right thing to "Make America Great Again."

Donald Trump has always been a businessman.  I don't even think he has really cared much about politics until recently.  Historically, his party affiliation has been all over the board, but mostly  Republican.  He dealt with people of all political stripes, even giving money to, and hanging out with on occasion, the Clintons.  I think that was because he was a businessman first, and when you are in business, and you are trying to separate others from their money, the reality is that both Democrats and Republicans have money.  Therefore, party didn't matter.  Money did.

Personally, I am not "party first."  I am a Christian first, a Constitutionalist second, and a Republican third.  So, there have been times when I have been critical of the GOP, and when I have abandoned a GOP candidate for an independent who I believed to be more in line with my thinking.  So, I kind of get it when we look back at Trump's history, and see that he's been largely GOP, but not all GOP.

Since we can't seem to nail down Trump's political beliefs by studying his past business tactics and affiliations, and we can't nail down his political beliefs by studying his fluid tendencies regarding the political parties, we must set that evidence aside.

Since we can't determine where he stands politically and personally based on what he says because we are not positive Mr. Trump is being honest with everything he says, we must also set aside that evidence.

That leaves us with those who know him.  I don't mean those who know "of" him, but those who personally know Donald Trump, have spent time with Donald Trump, who either have been his close personal friends, or those who have worked with or for him for a long time.  We need to look at his life, and talk to those who know him best, to determine who Donald Trump truly is.

His children were raised in a manner very consistent with conservatism.  They weren't handed anything.  Trump taught them strong work ethics, and they seem to be pretty grounded in a moral sense.  Some may bring up the fact that he is on his third marriage, and his latest is simply a plastic trophy wife.  Perhaps.  But, we don't know the full details of why the previous marriages failed.  As for his current wife, Melania Trump showed us in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that she is tough, thick skinned, opinionated, intelligent, politically savvy, looks up to her husband, and is deeply in love with her husband, Mr. Trump.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrLTFjWAyXY


Those others out there who have gotten to know him have said that Trump is attentive, caring, and a strong believer in individualism.  When you experience the testimony of those who have known him in business, you also receive a resoundingly conservative sounding report card.

Below, an executive for Donald Trump, Lynne Patton, provided a video titled, "The Trump Family That I Know" - A Black Female Trump Executive Speaks.  The evidence, again, is compelling, and works in the favor of Donald Trump being someone I am willing to vote for as President of the United States.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxaKUo5naoY

So, which is it?  Is Trump a hard left liberal charlatan who is pulling the wool over the eyes of an entire unsuspecting country, and someone who is possibly an ally of Hillary Clinton to pull off the kind of scam on Americans to get her into office that we would expect the Clintons to be behind. . . or is Trump someone like the rest of us who saw the rise of Obama and was so disgusted by it he felt the need to get involved politically. . . even though he knew nearly nothing about how to do it?

From the point of view of a constitutionalist who only adheres to the originalist point of view of the document, I get it.  Donald Trump understands business, and he may be a good deal maker and negotiator, but he falls way short when it comes to the American System.  I am not sure he understands that Executive Orders that modify the law are unconstitutional.  I am not sure he understands the original intent regarding the President's relationship with the Congress, nor the influence and rights the States have regarding the activities of the federal government.  Based on the evidence I have experienced, however, digging deeper than what you see on the surface, I do believe Trump sincerely wants to Make America Great Again.  I do believe he will stumble along the way, as well.  He is not the best candidate we could have gotten to represent the Grand Ol' Party.  But, he is far better than Hillary Clinton. . . and I do believe Mr. Trump will be willing to listen to those who know more than him about the political arena, conservatism, and the U.S. Constitution.

By the way, and this is a message to Mr. Trump: If you need a constitutionalist on your staff, feel free to let me know.  I want you to succeed - but if you are going to succeed, you need to surround yourself with people who know the American System.

Before I began considering giving Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt, I made a statement to his supporters.  "You are angry with the fact that we have an authoritarian in the White House, so you are seeking to replace him with a different authoritarian to fix the problems.  Be careful what you ask for."

I hope I was wrong.  I hope the #nevertrump people are wrong.  I do believe the movement that has lifted Donald Trump to the top of the GOP is sincere, and they are seeking someone who can put a stick in the spokes of the political machine.  I know that Mr. Trump is better than Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, I just don't know exactly how much better he is.  It may be a small gap, or a large one.  But, one thing is for sure; if we don't unite behind Trump as a party, and if we don't make sure he gets into the White House, Hillary Clinton will prove to be something worse than Barack Obama, and it will take generations more to repair the damage. . . if we are ever able to recover at all.

Hillary Clinton is the final nail in the coffin of the United States Constitution.  Donald Trump, if guided properly by the people around him, may very well be the crowbar that begins to open the lid again.  Or, at least I hope so.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary