A friend asks:
"Why would you vote for Trump? I want real, thought out answers... convince me."
Note, I'm not a Trump supporter, but this is how I would defend him.
Hillary has a proven track record as a war-monger and crony capitalist. She voted for the Iraq War, Patriot Act, and the 2008 TARP bailouts. She supports gun control, McCain-Feingold campaign censorship regulations, and a "Comcast for healthcare" system. Her every instinct is to impose more control, and concentrate ever greater amounts of money and power into a centralized state under her control.
As president, she will have the opportunity to appoint one, and possibly as many as three Supreme Court justices, which will shape the course of American jurisprudence for decades. Remember, it was the so-called liberal wing of the court (and that hypocrite Scalia), who voted against decriminalization of weed at the Federal level in the Raich decision.
Trump, on the other hand, is an unknown. Yes, he says crazy things, aggressive things, but this is a calculated ploy.
First, by doing so, he gets millions of dollars in earned media, as the outraged liberal media (80% of whom vote Democrat) report on his latest shenanigans. They weren't in his corner in the first place, so why not flip their hostility to his advantage? Remember, Trump has been a reality TV star since the 80's. He knows that the real death, the true death, is that no one knows your name.
Second, the median voter is a deeply ignorant, irrational, and mildly fascist. The median voter thinks that 28% of the Federal budget goes to foreign aid (it's actually 1%), simultaneously wants low taxes and high spending, and thinks torturing prisoners is a good way to get information. There's a reason the Clintons have been successful politicians.
Trump knows that you get elected by pandering to the electorate, not challenging them. So he plays up his hostility to immigrants (the median voter is pretty jingoistic), promises to reign in the Chinese (the median voter doesn't understand the benefits of trade), and is extremely bellicose.
The latter is particular genius. It's the "don't poke the crazy person" strategy at a national scale. By making it seem as if the U.S. is governed by a crazy person armed with nukes, it makes it less likely that they'll start a war with us.
Third, Trump wants to get re-elected. And the biggest determinant of getting re-elected is whether the economy is bumping along. Since Trump is not detail oriented, he'll appoint the "best guys" to research what will make the economy hum. Since the "best guys" know that free trade, low regulation, and low taxes make for more prosperity, that's what they'll push for in his various bureaucratic appointments.
But wait, you might say. Doesn't that contradict what Trump promised the voters? Yes, yes it does. Fortunately, voters have the attention span of gnats, and don't know how the government actually works. As long as the economy is doing well, they won't care.
Fourth, Trump's likely biggest role will be appointing Supreme Court justices. The "best guys" are going to recommend justices that are pro-market, and pro-freedom on the whole. And since he'll have a House and Senate under his control, his appointments will be able to get passed with relative ease. A conservative court, combined with the gerrymandering the Republicans achieved in the '90's will ensure that the liberal agenda will be slowed for decades.
Fifth, Trump knows that immigration won't be solved by a big wall. That's a sop to simpleton voters. Trump's been in construction and the hotel industry for decades, for God's sake. He knows that Hispanic workers are smart, hardworking, family oriented people, who won't be stopped by some wall.
However, by taking a hard line on immigration, it allows him to have a "Nixon goes to China" moment. Liberals won't be able to beef about relaxing immigration restrictions, because they'll have been railing against Trump on immigration his entire administration. And conservatives won't be able to beef much because Trump will have established his "tough on immigration" bonafides already, and if he can change his mind, why can't they?
Of course, this all depends on Trump not actually believing what he says. But that's patently obvious, right?
"Why would you vote for Trump? I want real, thought out answers... convince me."
Note, I'm not a Trump supporter, but this is how I would defend him.
Hillary has a proven track record as a war-monger and crony capitalist. She voted for the Iraq War, Patriot Act, and the 2008 TARP bailouts. She supports gun control, McCain-Feingold campaign censorship regulations, and a "Comcast for healthcare" system. Her every instinct is to impose more control, and concentrate ever greater amounts of money and power into a centralized state under her control.
As president, she will have the opportunity to appoint one, and possibly as many as three Supreme Court justices, which will shape the course of American jurisprudence for decades. Remember, it was the so-called liberal wing of the court (and that hypocrite Scalia), who voted against decriminalization of weed at the Federal level in the Raich decision.
Trump, on the other hand, is an unknown. Yes, he says crazy things, aggressive things, but this is a calculated ploy.
First, by doing so, he gets millions of dollars in earned media, as the outraged liberal media (80% of whom vote Democrat) report on his latest shenanigans. They weren't in his corner in the first place, so why not flip their hostility to his advantage? Remember, Trump has been a reality TV star since the 80's. He knows that the real death, the true death, is that no one knows your name.
Second, the median voter is a deeply ignorant, irrational, and mildly fascist. The median voter thinks that 28% of the Federal budget goes to foreign aid (it's actually 1%), simultaneously wants low taxes and high spending, and thinks torturing prisoners is a good way to get information. There's a reason the Clintons have been successful politicians.
Trump knows that you get elected by pandering to the electorate, not challenging them. So he plays up his hostility to immigrants (the median voter is pretty jingoistic), promises to reign in the Chinese (the median voter doesn't understand the benefits of trade), and is extremely bellicose.
The latter is particular genius. It's the "don't poke the crazy person" strategy at a national scale. By making it seem as if the U.S. is governed by a crazy person armed with nukes, it makes it less likely that they'll start a war with us.
Third, Trump wants to get re-elected. And the biggest determinant of getting re-elected is whether the economy is bumping along. Since Trump is not detail oriented, he'll appoint the "best guys" to research what will make the economy hum. Since the "best guys" know that free trade, low regulation, and low taxes make for more prosperity, that's what they'll push for in his various bureaucratic appointments.
But wait, you might say. Doesn't that contradict what Trump promised the voters? Yes, yes it does. Fortunately, voters have the attention span of gnats, and don't know how the government actually works. As long as the economy is doing well, they won't care.
Fourth, Trump's likely biggest role will be appointing Supreme Court justices. The "best guys" are going to recommend justices that are pro-market, and pro-freedom on the whole. And since he'll have a House and Senate under his control, his appointments will be able to get passed with relative ease. A conservative court, combined with the gerrymandering the Republicans achieved in the '90's will ensure that the liberal agenda will be slowed for decades.
Fifth, Trump knows that immigration won't be solved by a big wall. That's a sop to simpleton voters. Trump's been in construction and the hotel industry for decades, for God's sake. He knows that Hispanic workers are smart, hardworking, family oriented people, who won't be stopped by some wall.
However, by taking a hard line on immigration, it allows him to have a "Nixon goes to China" moment. Liberals won't be able to beef about relaxing immigration restrictions, because they'll have been railing against Trump on immigration his entire administration. And conservatives won't be able to beef much because Trump will have established his "tough on immigration" bonafides already, and if he can change his mind, why can't they?
Of course, this all depends on Trump not actually believing what he says. But that's patently obvious, right?