If any idea should be non-controversial among Republicans, I would have thought it would be this: Hillary Clinton should never be president of the United States. Whether you start with her corruption, her lack of achievements, her lack of skill or her total lack of anything resembling principles – this is clearly not a person any Republican should be willing to see in the White House.
Yet with barely one-sixth of the delegates chosen in the race for the Republican nomination, the party establishment is so panicked over the possibility that Donald Trump might win the nomination, we have people practically tattooing #NeverTrump to their foreheads and vowing that under no circumstances will they vote for him – even if it’s the only way left to make sure the president is #NeverHillary.
There is no reason for this. None.
For one thing, the race for the nomination is far from over. Yes, Trump is in a commanding position right now, but there are a lot of states left, including some very big states with winner-take-all delegate assignments. If Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio run well, there is no reason they should not have a shot.
But let’s talk about Donald Trump. No candidate is perfect, and I understand some of the concerns people have about Trump – although I do think a lot of them are overblown and based on notions people have that are completely inaccurate. I know him pretty well and he is not a racist at all, yet some people are 100 percent convinced that’s exactly what he is. That may be based on little more than a meme they saw on social media, or a comment from some pundit who doesn’t know Trump in the slightest.
I understand he does not have a long history as a conservative, and some conservatives prefer not to vote for a recent convert. But when I look at his policy proposals, all of which you can find on his web site, I find a lot of them line up with the ideas I proposed in my new book, The Right Problems.
So here’s my question to those of you who really really really don’t want Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee: Why do you think it’s a good idea to sabotage him now, even to the point of announcing that you’re willing to let Hillary Clinton become president rather than Trump? That almost sounds like blackmail to me. Give us what we want or we’ll blow this whole thing up and you’ll be stuck with . . . her.
Are you simply so panicked by the prospect of a Trump nomination that you think you have to trot out the most horrifying threat imaginable to get Trump supporters to back off? Because I have to tell you something: I don’t think they’re going to do it. The reason so many people support Donald Trump is that they’re tired of more conventional Republican politicians promising to do certain things, and either failing or never really trying in the first place.
What conservative policy achievements do we have since Ronald Reagan left office? The tax code is worse than ever. Energy policy is still a mess. Health care is a disaster. The debt is soaring to frightening levels. Immigration and border security are a complete embarrassment.
Plenty of Republicans run for office and say they want to bring conservative solutions to these problems, and conservatives enthusiastically vote for them because of the “stands” they take. But the “stands” accomplish nothing. One thing I will always remember about my run for president in the 2012 cycle is that my fellow candidate, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, was asked to name an achievement of hers. She talked about her opposition to ObamaCare.
I’ve got news for you: That’s not an achievement! ObamaCare passed. It’s the law to this day. If your goal was to stop ObamaCare, you failed. I’m not saying that’s Michele Bachmann’s fault, but merely taking a position is not an achievement. Actually achieving something is.
Many voters are backing Donald Trump because they’re convinced that all traditional Republicans do is talk about implementing conservative ideas. They’re either too afraid of the media or completely outmaneuvered by the Democrats to ever put those ideas into action. They want someone who isn’t afraid and doesn’t care if he’s criticized, and they see Donald Trump as that kind of candidate.
Agree or disagree, that’s fine. I see good things in Cruz and Rubio too. But sabotaging Trump now when clearly many of the people want him and respond to him is completely insane. Let the process play out. If another one of the candidates deserves the nomination, then let him go and earn it. But undercutting the man who might be our last chance to stop Hillary, just because he bothers you in this way or that way, is one of the most irresponsible things I can imagine.
A Hillary Clinton presidency would be a horror show. For Republicans to announce to the nation that it would be OK with them because they can’t stand Donald Trump is almost like announcing that the Republican Party no longer has any reason to exist at all.
#NeverHillary
If any idea should be non-controversial among Republicans, I would have thought it would be this: Hillary Clinton should never be president of the United States. Whether you start with her corruption, her lack of achievements, her lack of skill or her total lack of anything resembling principles – this is clearly not a person any Republican should be willing to see in the White House.
Yet with barely one-sixth of the delegates chosen in the race for the Republican nomination, the party establishment is so panicked over the possibility that Donald Trump might win the nomination, we have people practically tattooing #NeverTrump to their foreheads and vowing that under no circumstances will they vote for him – even if it’s the only way left to make sure the president is #NeverHillary.
