Author Topic: Trump and the Character Question  (Read 4088 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #25 on: January 07, 2019, 10:09:59 pm »
Most of those people overlooked his lack of character because they were choking on the idea of a President Hillary.   Come 2020, with four years of Trump's reality show under our belts,  I believe that the peoples' exhaustion will cause him to be crushed in a bid for re-election.   The question becomes what we must do to save conservatism in the face of a Democratic party which appears increasingly likely to oppose Trump with an out-and-out socialist with contempt for the Constitution.   

Republicans must step up and admit the obvious - Trump needs to be opposed for the GOP nomination.   

That would be a death wish, @Jazzhead   Trump is still popular enough to win in 2020, particularly in view of the fact that the dems have no viable candidate.

I would vote for Trump in 2020 and I didn't vote for him in 2016.  He has proved himself to me.
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #26 on: January 07, 2019, 10:12:34 pm »
OK ... then paint the forum Orange for heaven's sake and I'd love to see a bright orange wall!

I apologize to ALL those whom I've called a Trumpster!!  Certainly doesn't mean I give him a free pass on everything it only means that anyone with half a brain would see that IF we have any chance of saving this country from continued invasion and losing our sovereignty its standing behind Trump when he's trying to take this country in that same direction.

Great post @libertybele   Thank you.
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Online Right_in_Virginia

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 79,321
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #27 on: January 07, 2019, 10:29:56 pm »
Most of those people overlooked his lack of character because they were choking on the idea of a President Hillary.   Come 2020, with four years of Trump's reality show under our belts,  I believe that the peoples' exhaustion will cause him to be crushed in a bid for re-election.   

This is probably true of the late deciders.  But the tens of thousands of voters who attended rally after rally after rally in city after city after city, including behind the blue wall, for 18 straight months were there because they wanted this man to be President.   They really, really wanted this man to be President.  They are with him still.   

Be careful not to mistake what you see in the mirror with the base at large. 

Offline montanajoe

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,324
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #28 on: January 07, 2019, 10:48:33 pm »
Trump supporters attempting to redefine the meaning of the word character sounds a lot like Clinton...."it depends on what the meaning of the word is is..." :shrug:

Offline corbe

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 38,071
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #29 on: January 07, 2019, 10:50:32 pm »
   I do like your Thread Post selection, @Emjay

   
No government in the 12,000 years of modern mankind history has led its people into anything but the history books with a simple lesson, don't let this happen to you.

Online roamer_1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 43,289
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #30 on: January 07, 2019, 10:50:37 pm »
Trump supporters attempting to redefine the meaning of the word character sounds a lot like Clinton...."it depends on what the meaning of the word is is..." :shrug:

That's right.

Offline austingirl

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,734
  • Gender: Female
  • Cruz 2016- a Constitutional Conservative at last!
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #31 on: January 07, 2019, 10:53:31 pm »
Yes, character does matter, but obviously 63 million people liked his character enough to vote for him, electing him as President.
Trump wasn't elected for his character. He was a womanizing playboy that the media loved when he was a democrat. He was elected to stir the pot in corrupt hidebound DC and to protect our border.
Principles matter. Words matter.

Online DCPatriot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,799
  • Gender: Male
  • "...and the winning number is...not yours!
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #32 on: January 07, 2019, 10:58:23 pm »

Sorry...




Anybody ever see this movie??    :shrug:

« Last Edit: January 07, 2019, 11:01:35 pm by DCPatriot »
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Online Right_in_Virginia

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 79,321
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #33 on: January 07, 2019, 11:02:42 pm »
Trump supporters attempting to redefine the meaning of the word character sounds a lot like Clinton...."it depends on what the meaning of the word is is..." :shrug:

Nope.  We knew the man we were supporting.  We judge him on how he treats us.  So far, he's doing great.

Online DCPatriot

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,799
  • Gender: Male
  • "...and the winning number is...not yours!
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #34 on: January 07, 2019, 11:05:51 pm »
Nope.  We knew the man we were supporting.  We judge him on how he treats us.  So far, he's doing great.

Based upon my formal education and life experience, Donald Trump's leadership is second to none. 

The country should just STFU and say 'Thank you, sir,...I'll have another!"
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Online Bigun

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 51,331
  • Gender: Male
  • Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God
    • The FairTax Plan
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #35 on: January 07, 2019, 11:12:01 pm »
Trump wasn't elected for his character. He was a womanizing playboy that the media loved when he was a democrat. He was elected to stir the pot in corrupt hidebound DC and to protect our border.

Based on what I knew at the time, I simply could not bring myself to vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 but if he continues to perform his official duties as he has to date I surely will vote for him in 2020 if he still wants the job.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #36 on: January 08, 2019, 03:30:58 am »
Trump wasn't elected for his character. He was a womanizing playboy that the media loved when he was a democrat. He was elected to stir the pot in corrupt hidebound DC and to protect our border.

True, but as the article points out, "Trump's history of womanizing as a character flaw?  Sure, but that blanket covers many past presidents.  At least for Trump, it was decades ago, not while he was president, something that cannot be said for many Oval Office occupants"
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #37 on: January 08, 2019, 03:34:12 am »
Based on what I knew at the time, I simply could not bring myself to vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 but if he continues to perform his official duties as he has to date I surely will vote for him in 2020 if he still wants the job.

I agree @Bigun   I had just moved to Hawaii in 2016 and couldn't vote but not sure how I would have voted, but I would definitely vote Trump in 2020.  I think you are I are fairly typical of the people Trump has converted through his good performance as President so far.
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #38 on: January 08, 2019, 03:35:19 am »
   I do like your Thread Post selection, @Emjay

   

Can you say 'snide', @corbe
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Offline Jazzhead

  • Blue lives matter
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,593
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #39 on: January 08, 2019, 02:50:43 pm »
This is probably true of the late deciders.  But the tens of thousands of voters who attended rally after rally after rally in city after city after city, including behind the blue wall, for 18 straight months were there because they wanted this man to be President.   They really, really wanted this man to be President.  They are with him still.   

Be careful not to mistake what you see in the mirror with the base at large.

Trump's base is probably about a third of the electorate, although not, of course, evenly distributed throughout the country.   But that's not enough to win the 2020 election.   Trump needs to get back the 15-25% of the electorate that voted for him with noses clenched because they deemed Hillary worse.  Now the Dems will no doubt work hard to nominate a candidate as god-awful as Hillary,  but he/she will likely be a new face and will have the combined power of the mainstream media behind him/her.   

What has Trump done in the last two years to expand his appeal beyond his base?   The polls, and this year's midterms,  suggest he's made little or no headway.  Indeed,  Trump himself just burrows deeper and deeper into the bosom of his base; he's not even trying anymore to address the exhaustion of the rest of us.

 I just see a disaster looming.   
It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide

Offline ABX

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 900
  • Words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #40 on: January 08, 2019, 02:56:59 pm »
True, but as the article points out, "Trump's history of womanizing as a character flaw?  Sure, but that blanket covers many past presidents.  At least for Trump, it was decades ago, not while he was president, something that cannot be said for many Oval Office occupants"

You don't know it was 'decades ago and not while he was President'. Clinton's initial accusations were 'decades ago' and we didn't find out about his interns until 6 years in.  You can't teach a horny old dog new tricks.

Offline austingirl

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,734
  • Gender: Female
  • Cruz 2016- a Constitutional Conservative at last!
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #41 on: January 08, 2019, 03:09:26 pm »
You don't know it was 'decades ago and not while he was President'. Clinton's initial accusations were 'decades ago' and we didn't find out about his interns until 6 years in.  You can't teach a horny old dog new tricks.

With the microscope Trump is under and the leaks from the WH, it is very likely that he is faithful. After all the fake news stories, nothing current in this vein has even been speculated. Except by you.
Principles matter. Words matter.

Offline aligncare

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 25,916
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #42 on: January 08, 2019, 03:11:22 pm »
You don't know it was 'decades ago and not while he was President'. Clinton's initial accusations were 'decades ago' and we didn't find out about his interns until 6 years in.  You can't teach a horny old dog new tricks.

Donald Trump is married to one of the sexiest women in the world. Bill Clinton was (laughably) married to Hillary Clinton.

Besides that obvious difference, when would Donald Trump possibly have the time to mess around with other women? He’s tweeting or eating at 2:00 AM.

Offline ABX

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 900
  • Words full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #43 on: January 08, 2019, 03:13:26 pm »
Bookmark

Offline skeeter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 26,717
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #44 on: January 08, 2019, 03:15:00 pm »
Trump's base is probably about a third of the electorate, although not, of course, evenly distributed throughout the country.   But that's not enough to win the 2020 election.   Trump needs to get back the 15-25% of the electorate that voted for him with noses clenched because they deemed Hillary worse.  Now the Dems will no doubt work hard to nominate a candidate as god-awful as Hillary,  but he/she will likely be a new face and will have the combined power of the mainstream media behind him/her.   

What has Trump done in the last two years to expand his appeal beyond his base?   The polls, and this year's midterms,  suggest he's made little or no headway.  Indeed,  Trump himself just burrows deeper and deeper into the bosom of his base; he's not even trying anymore to address the exhaustion of the rest of us.

 I just see a disaster looming.   

Trump's popularity among the GOP rank and file is slightly higher than Bush's was immediately following 9/11. The problem is that thanks to the super polarized media he's hated to the same degree by the left.

There is no other way for him to handle himself other than to forge ahead on his current path and hope, like his agenda or not, Americans credit him for keeping/attempting to keep his promises, which everyone would have to acknowledge is an rare thing in DC.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 03:20:49 pm by skeeter »

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #45 on: January 08, 2019, 03:20:54 pm »
You don't know it was 'decades ago and not while he was President'. Clinton's initial accusations were 'decades ago' and we didn't find out about his interns until 6 years in.  You can't teach a horny old dog new tricks.

We do know @ABX   You can believe what you want but Trump's life has been under a microscope for many years before he entered politics.  With the media panting for every crumb of a scandal they can find about Trump, you can be sure all the greedy little scandal seekers would have found something.
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Offline Jazzhead

  • Blue lives matter
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,593
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #46 on: January 08, 2019, 04:09:48 pm »
Trump's popularity among the GOP rank and file is slightly higher than Bush's was immediately following 9/11. The problem is that thanks to the super polarized media he's hated to the same degree by the left.

There is no other way for him to handle himself other than to forge ahead on his current path and hope, like his agenda or not, Americans credit him for keeping/attempting to keep his promises, which everyone would have to acknowledge is an rare thing in DC.

His popularity among Republicans in polls is a function of party loyalty/solidarity, in the current climate where (as you point out), his opponents hate him to an irrational degree.  Put it this way - I didn't vote for Trump in 2016 and I won't support him for the nomination in 2020,  but if a pollster asked me if I supported the President and the job he's doing I'd respond hell yes.    The tendency to circle wagons is par for the course for partisans on both sides,  especially when it's clear the other side seeks not to debate but to destroy.

But this is a forum of Republicans/conservatives.   I can speak my mind here.  Trump's policies I largely agree with; the manner in which he conducts himself and the Presidency I do not.  Of course he can handle himself differently - he chooses not to.   I see him making no effort to grow his base beyond those he eggs on at his rallies.   And that's just not enough to win re-election.  As I've stated before,  I want to see someone - Nikki Haley? - challenge him from the standpoint of finishing the job Trump has started - to continue his pro-growth, pro-America policies but who can, by acting like a traditional and dignified  leader, lance the boil of hate that infects this nation.   
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 04:11:26 pm by Jazzhead »
It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide

Offline Emjay

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,687
  • Gender: Female
  • Womp, womp
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #47 on: January 08, 2019, 04:37:34 pm »
His popularity among Republicans in polls is a function of party loyalty/solidarity, in the current climate where (as you point out), his opponents hate him to an irrational degree.  Put it this way - I didn't vote for Trump in 2016 and I won't support him for the nomination in 2020,  but if a pollster asked me if I supported the President and the job he's doing I'd respond hell yes.    The tendency to circle wagons is par for the course for partisans on both sides,  especially when it's clear the other side seeks not to debate but to destroy.

But this is a forum of Republicans/conservatives.   I can speak my mind here.  Trump's policies I largely agree with; the manner in which he conducts himself and the Presidency I do not.  Of course he can handle himself differently - he chooses not to.   I see him making no effort to grow his base beyond those he eggs on at his rallies.   And that's just not enough to win re-election.  As I've stated before,  I want to see someone - Nikki Haley? - challenge him from the standpoint of finishing the job Trump has started - to continue his pro-growth, pro-America policies but who can, by acting like a traditional and dignified  leader, lance the boil of hate that infects this nation.

I don't usually respond to your inane rants @Jazzhead but actions speak louder than words.  You would rather have a dignified leader than a man of his word who has continued to follow up on the promises of his campaign.

That is just insanity.
Against stupidity, the Gods themselves contend in vain.

Offline Jazzhead

  • Blue lives matter
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 11,593
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #48 on: January 08, 2019, 05:32:02 pm »
I don't usually respond to your inane rants @Jazzhead but actions speak louder than words.  You would rather have a dignified leader than a man of his word who has continued to follow up on the promises of his campaign.

That is just insanity.

Inane, huh, @Emjay?   *****rollingeyes*****    Why not insist on someone who's both a dignified leader and a man of his word?  You've presented a false choice unless, of course, character and traditional notions of leadership don't matter to you.   

I'm glad you support the President.   I do as well, in the current crisis.   But I can also think dynamically, and understand the man's deeply flawed.   The task is preserve the continuing relevance of conservatism after 2020.    Trump assembled a unique and winning coalition in 2016,  but that was yesterday.   He's done nothing to appeal to those outside the third of his electorate that he attracts to his rallies with his tub-thumping nationalism.   The midterms proved his coalition is no longer there, especially in the Midwest that proved to be his margin of victory.     And in 2020, the stakes will be even higher, because at least Hillary, a venal criminal to be sure, wasn't a socialist.    We can't afford to lose this one.   Trump must be challenged for the nomination.   
« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 05:35:03 pm by Jazzhead »
It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide

Offline skeeter

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 26,717
  • Gender: Male
Re: Trump and the Character Question
« Reply #49 on: January 08, 2019, 05:38:36 pm »
His popularity among Republicans in polls is a function of party loyalty/solidarity, in the current climate where (as you point out), his opponents hate him to an irrational degree.  Put it this way - I didn't vote for Trump in 2016 and I won't support him for the nomination in 2020,  but if a pollster asked me if I supported the President and the job he's doing I'd respond hell yes.    The tendency to circle wagons is par for the course for partisans on both sides,  especially when it's clear the other side seeks not to debate but to destroy.

But this is a forum of Republicans/conservatives.   I can speak my mind here.  Trump's policies I largely agree with; the manner in which he conducts himself and the Presidency I do not.  Of course he can handle himself differently - he chooses not to.   I see him making no effort to grow his base beyond those he eggs on at his rallies.   And that's just not enough to win re-election.  As I've stated before,  I want to see someone - Nikki Haley? - challenge him from the standpoint of finishing the job Trump has started - to continue his pro-growth, pro-America policies but who can, by acting like a traditional and dignified  leader, lance the boil of hate that infects this nation.

I would rather have a president with integrity - someone who endeavors to keep his word on his bedrock issues relative to others who've held the office recently - than someone with a nice straight crease in his slacks. I suspect most voters will agree.

BTW I'm NOT interested in the least in mollifying the hard left. They are lost and God forbid they have a seat at the table.

« Last Edit: January 08, 2019, 05:44:17 pm by skeeter »