Conservative media establishment resorts to name-calling in hope of taking Trump down

In this space and on my radio show, we pride ourselves on the truth and on setting the record straight when candidates are falsely attacked or mischaracterized (no matter who they are) by the misreporting of the media. Since Donald Trump is leading in the Republican polls and is being attacked and mischaracterized on many fronts, it probably seems to some as if we are always trying to help people not form a negative perception of The Donald. But I’m not endorsing Donald Trump over the rest of the Republican field so much as I’m looking to make sure the Republican front-runner is assessed on the basis of truth.

That being said, we are used to Democrats using S.I.N. (Shift the subject, Ignore the facts, and Name calling) tactics against Republicans or anyone who dares to disagree with them. But now it’s not only the political and media establishment are doing it to Trump. They’ve also been joined by three well-known conservative writers. We’ll start with Kathleen Parker, who thinks Trump is a “partisan divider”:

But mention PC to a constituency that despises an increasingly alien (PC correction: unfamiliar) country whose core principles are routinely ridiculed by popular culture — and who perceive illegal immigrants (PC correction: undocumented workers) as receiving greater deference than hardworking Americans barely scraping by — and you, my friend, are a hero.

I think the real partisan divide is establishment versus non-establishment, instead of Republican versus Democrat. It's PC versus non-PC. It's candidates who stir things up (Trump) vs. those who try to keep things in a calm, appeasing and boring tone (most of the other candidates . . . not all, but most.) And besides, when was the last time we saw some partisan harmony in the Republican Party or Washington, D.C.? The Republicans are their own worst enemy when it comes to agreeing to a replacement for ObamaCare and a host of other issues that Main Street USA never hears about.

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If Trump is divisive at all, he's creating a wedge between those in the political establishment who want PC approaches to issues instead of bold solutions. Do some of Trump's rhetoric and bold ideas offend some people? Yes! But most of the offended ones are those in the political and media establishment. Most of Main Street USA are not offended. Do some of his ideas need refining for implementation? Yes! But it's not necessary to try to drive him out of the presidential race by driving a negative perception of him through the narrow lens of the media. Next comes Charles Krauthammer, who thinks Trump’s immigration proposals are of the crackpot variety:

Last Sunday, Trump told NBC’s Chuck Todd that all illegal immigrants must leave the country. Although once they’ve been kicked out, we will let “the good ones” back in. On its own terms, this is crackpot. Wouldn’t you save a lot just on Mayflower moving costs if you chose the “good ones” first — before sending SWAT teams to turf families out of their homes, loading them on buses and dumping them on the other side of the Rio Grande?

Crackpot! Many conservative Republicans have talked about the same initiatives on immigration that Trump is talking about. Except those conservative Republicans try not to offend anyone, whereas, Trump doesn’t really seem too concerned about that. Conservative Republicans always talk about dealing with the estimated 12 million illegals in this country as a question, whereas, Trump talks about "deportation" of them openly and brazenly. As a result, we never make any progress on dealing with the issue with establishment Republicans in office, and they can't even decide on which of the popular initiatives to start on first: The wall, E-verify, expired Visas, deportations, etc. They’re are afraid Trump might actually do something to solve a problem, which might offend somebody. Finally we come to George F. Will, who takes it upon himself to decide that Trump is a “counterfeit Republican”:

He is an affront to anyone devoted to the project William F. Buckley began six decades ago with the founding in 1955 of the National Review — making conservatism intellectually respectable and politically palatable. Buckley’s legacy is being betrayed by invertebrate conservatives now saying that although Trump “goes too far,” he has “tapped into something,” and therefore. . . . Therefore what? This stance — if a semi-grovel can be dignified as a stance — is a recipe for deserved disaster. Remember, Henry Wallace and Strom Thurmond “tapped into” things.

I have met George Will and admire a lot of his thoughts on various subjects. And George is a consistent conservative's conservative. But I think George missed the memo that the Republican brand has an image problem. And whatever an authentic Republican looks like, we need to have them run for president and win! Leroy and Bessie from Main Street USA couldn’t care less about a counterfeit or authentic Republican. Trump has tapped into their anger and frustration and it's not a temporary phenomenon. Bottom line: Trying to discourage Trump supporters from supporting Trump with name calling will not work because they don't follow the latest conservative opinions from well-known conservative writers. So if conservatives think Trump's tough talk is wrong or unworkable in the political sphere, then explain why instead of resorting to assuming they can't be done because of establishment resistance, and then resorting to name calling. That's what liberals do! Main Street USA is sick and tired of assuming something can't be done, because they see nothing is getting done on our big challenges – economic growth, the tax code, spending, immigration, military strength and a clear foreign policy strategy. While I was out of town taking a few days off from the radio show, everybody I talked to wanted to talk about Donald Trump. Most men said they liked him, and most women said they did not like him. Now that's something to explore as to why, rather than name calling. One woman commented to me, unsolicited, that she loves Hillary and Trump is "crazy". I expect that from a true delusional liberal, but not from conservatives.