So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

[truth_seeker]

So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

Kurt Schlichter Posted: Aug 01, 2016 12:01 AM

The primaries are over and Trump is the nominee, and instead of whining about it like a Millennial faced with having to get a job we need to step back and ask ourselves if we have learned anything from this bizarre turn of events. The GOP – our GOP – has nominated someone who is not a traditional conservative. He’s not even an untraditional conservative. Hell, there’s probably not even a “c” or a “v” in whatever he is. So we can either try to figure out what happened or keep rending our clothes and gnashing our teeth about how our own voter base took one look at us and rejected us like any sober, sighted guy in a bar at 7 p.m. would reject Lena Dunham.

What have we learned from this? We can’t answer that unless we get beyond the natural tendency to assume that the problem is that everyone else is wrong: “Gosh, if the voters weren’t so stupid they would have totally fallen in line with our commands and right now we’d be watching Jeb Bush being fitted for a gimp suit by Hillary instead of seeing Trump [checks current polls] uh, cleaning her clock. Wait, what?”

Did we ever actually listen to our people? I mean all our people, not just the people who went to the same colleges as us and who hang with us at the same awesome restaurants and read National Review. I mean the actual voters out there in wherever actual GOP voters live. Did we pay attention to them and their concerns? Did we listen to them about illegal immigration, about the impact of free trade, about the wars we supported? And did we fight? I don’t mean just give lip service to how bad and unwashed liberals are, but really get in there and stand up to these flag-hating, gender-inventing, God-booing jerks? Or did we look down on the very people we were depending on at election time?

In short, did we completely screw up? Nah, it’s clearly everyone else who’s wrong. They’re just too stupid to understand that they need to obediently fall in line. After all, their real interests are actually – and super conveniently – our interests.

Seriously – is that where we are at? Because I’m hearing a lot of such nonsense from people horrified at Trump and, by extension, the GOP voters who nominated him fair and square. Can we really blame them for voting for the one guy who actually paid attention to what they were saying?

Did we listen about illegal immigration? Heck, illegal immigration is just wonderful for us. We get cheaper restaurant food, cheaper houses, cheaper maids, and if we own companies we get cheaper workers. So what’s not to love, right? Except maybe you didn’t go to a university and wanted to work with your hands and found that you can’t get a job because all the companies are hiring cheap illegal alien workers. Or your truck got hit by an uninsured illegal. Or your daughter got killed by an illegal who should have been deported. Well, if you have concerns about these things, clearly you’re a racist.
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http://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2016/08/01/so-conservatives-what-have-we-learned-from-this-trump-thing-n2200195?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=

[libertybele]

What we should have learned by this primary:

1)  Hillary is more corrupt than ever and Trump is merely her siphon.

2)  We need to have CLOSED primaries.

[skeeter]

Schlichter must have intended this essay for Yeb/Christie/Rubio/Kasich/etc supporters.

There were good reasons Cruz and Trump were by far and away the most popular candidates. Its just that not enough of us recognized the scam Trump was running.

[Cripplecreek]

Schlichter must have intended this essay for Yeb/Christie/Rubio/Kasich/etc supporters.

There were good reasons Cruz and Trump were by far and away the most popular candidates. Its just that not enough of us recognized the scam Trump was running.

Schlichter was late to the party but is fully infected these days.

[guitar4jesus]

So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

We're schlonged...

[Cripplecreek]

So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

We're schlonged...

Frankly I'm feeling vindicated.

[truth_seeker]

2)  We need to have CLOSED primaries.

Trump won 19 out of 28 closed GOP primaries. Trump won 13 out of 18 open primaries. Trump won 4 out of 4 mixed primaries.

Trump won 36 out of 50 total primaries.

Next solution?

[sinkspur]

So Schlicter, who has been in tirade mode against anti-Trumpers, seems to be sensing that this Trump ship is going down.

And it is:

Trump's support among self-ID'd conservatives in the @CBSNewsPoll is at 64%.

Bush in '04 exits - 84%
McCain in '08 - 78%
Romney in '12 -82%

[Sanguine]

What we should have learned by this primary:

....

2)  We need to have CLOSED primaries.

Yes, and lucky for us,  Mike Lee and Ken Cucchinelli worked to get that passed at the convention.  Oh wait, I remember, the Priebus/McConnell/Ryan/Manafort wing of the party tossed that idea out...

[starstruck]

So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

That once again we don't get a conservative candidate. Nothing different about this year except for the degree of non-conservative candidate we got.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Trump won 19 out of 28 closed GOP primaries. Trump won 13 out of 18 open primaries. Trump won 4 out of 4 mixed primaries.

Trump won 36 out of 50 total primaries.

Next solution?

There is so much "sky is falling/party is destroyed" whining that it gets very old after awhile.

The truth is pretty simple.  This was a one-off election caused primarily by the party ignoring voters on the issue of immigration.  Trump jumped louder and harder on that issue than anyone else, and because of his vulgarity, convinced a lot of voters that he didn't care if he pissed off the elites who disagreed on immigration.  That made him credible on that issue to them.

It's unfortunate, and I personally wish it hadn't come out this way.  But that's what happened, and the Bushes, and Romneys, and the rest of the elites at war with the people who voted for Trump should look in the mirror.  They made/caused him.

In my opinion, the most mature response is to ride this election out, and vote for Trump or not as your own conscience dictates.  But the knuckleheads in the party elite who think that publicly opposing Trump is the way to fix the party are being petulant jerks.  The net result of that will be to permanently alienate a huge, necessary swathe of voters who will sit out in 2020 no matter who is nominated.  It will be handing permanent majorities to the Democrats for the foreseeable future.

Conservatives and elites both got their butts kicked this election cycle by the populists.  We can either run away, or regroup and come back next time.  Those kind of intra-party fights are based on impermanent, temporary majorities/pluralities heavily dependent upon candidate charisma, and issues peculiar to each election cycle.  Just because you won or lost this one doesn't mean the same will happen next time.

But it looks to me that many of us are choosing to cut and run rather than fight and regroup, which I think does not bode well for conservatism moving forward.

[XenaLee]

Trump won 19 out of 28 closed GOP primaries. Trump won 13 out of 18 open primaries. Trump won 4 out of 4 mixed primaries.

Trump won 36 out of 50 total primaries.

Next solution?

Don't let dumbasses vote?  (</sarc>)

[r9etb]

How many times have you read people in forums like this talking about how much more principled "conservatives" are than those horrid liberals.

There's one more pretense out the window.

[XenaLee]

There is so much "sky is falling/party is destroyed" whining that it gets very old after awhile.

The truth is pretty simple.  This was a one-off election caused primarily by the party ignoring voters on the issue of immigration.  Trump jumped louder and harder on that issue than anyone else, and because of his vulgarity, convinced a lot of voters that he didn't care if he pissed off the elites who disagreed on immigration.  That made him credible on that issue to them.

It's unfortunate, and I personally wish it hadn't come out this way.  But that's what happened, and the Bushes, and Romneys, and the rest of the elites at war with the people who voted for Trump should look in the mirror.  They made/caused him.

In my opinion, the most mature response is to ride this election out, and vote for Trump or not as your own conscience dictates.  But the knuckleheads in the party elite who think that publicly opposing Trump is the way to fix the party are being petulant jerks.  The net result of that will be to permanently alienate a huge, necessary swathe of voters who will sit out in 2020 no matter who is nominated.  It will be handing permanent majorities to the Democrats for the foreseeable future.

Conservatives and elites both got their butts kicked this election cycle by the populists.  We can either run away, or regroup and come back next time.  Those kind of intra-party fights are based on impermanent, temporary majorities/pluralities heavily dependent upon candidate charisma, and issues peculiar to each election cycle.  Just because you won or lost this one doesn't mean the same will happen next time.

But it looks to me that many of us are choosing to cut and run rather than fight and regroup, which I think does not bode well for conservatism moving forward.

Ah, but voting your conscience and being a conscientious objector does not equate to cutting and running.  Just so ya know.

Yes, conservatives got their asses kicked in this election year.  But so did America, Americans that love America and Americans that value their freedoms, future and current.  It's just that a lot of folks haven't figured that out yet.

[txradioguy]

So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

That a New York Liberal who calls himself a Republican is still just a New York Liberal.

[r9etb]

But it looks to me that many of us are choosing to cut and run rather than fight and regroup, which I think does not bode well for conservatism moving forward.

Fight for .... what, precisely?    (I'm assuming you mean within the GOP.)

I think we agree that something went horribly wrong this time around.  What do you propose we fight for, and fight against?

[Bigun]

Trump won 19 out of 28 closed GOP primaries. Trump won 13 out of 18 open primaries. Trump won 4 out of 4 mixed primaries.

Trump won 36 out of 50 total primaries.

Next solution?

I guess it depends on how you define "closed" doesn't it!

[Cripplecreek]

Fight for .... what, precisely?    (I'm assuming you mean within the GOP.)

I think we agree that something went horribly wrong this time around.  What do you propose we fight for, and fight against?

I personally am standing my ground.

[Jazzhead]

What I've learned is that the Trump Party doesn't reflect my values.  I do not want and will not seek any reconciliation with Trump supporters.    The first order of business is to defeat Trump and discredit the dark soul of Trumpism.   After that,  I'll see if there's any part of the Republican Party that's worth saving from my perspective.   The Libertarian alternative is looking better and better the more I investigate it. 

[Silver Pines]

Frankly I'm feeling vindicated.

@Cripplecreek


You, too?   

[Bigun]

So Conservatives, What Have We Learned From This Trump Thing?

We have learned that there are plenty of stupid people who vote!

[corbe]

   I learned, for certain, that the RNC can be just as STUPID/Liberal as the DNC.

[Restored]

I find it odd that the party that chose McCain and Romney then chose Trump. It is almost like people new to the party were voting.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Ah, but voting your conscience and being a conscientious objector does not equate to cutting and running.  Just so ya know.

I agree with that, which is why I said to vote for the guy or not as your conscience dictates.  I'm talking about those who 1) are actively campaigning against him, and in some cases even saying they'll vote for Hillary, and/or 2) are talking about leaving the party to form some third party.  That's the "cutting and running" I'm talking about.  That surrenders a massive infrastructure to your opponents, rather than trying to wrest back control from them next time.

Yes, conservatives got their asses kicked in this election year.  But so did America, Americans that love America and Americans that value their freedoms, future and current.  It's just that a lot of folks haven't figured that out yet.

Yeah, we did.  So we need to suck it up, realize what went wrong, and not get all defeatist about it being inevitable next time as well.  I'm convinced that this primary turned on illegal immigration, and anger by too many people against elites that tolerated it.  I also think a perception that political correctness is assisting in the destruction of our culture and country played a big role as well.  Trump was tailor-made to capitalize on a problem that was largely created by the party elites.  That's what we should have "figured out" from this mess.

The party can be recaptured for conservatives in 2020 if we 1) stick with the fight, and 2) find the right candidate.  That second point is really everything, and it too often gets overlooked/ignored as a reason why we lost this time.  I mean, does someone here want to nominate the "great conservative candidate" that GOP voters have failed to support in recent primaries?  Because I sure as heck haven't seen him/her.  I've seen people who either had the right personality but wrong views, or wrong personality and right views.  It will take good fortune for a conservative to win the Presidency because we have to find the right man/woman, and I think some folks are just not comfortable with admitting that reality.

[musiclady]

What have I learned?

-That an unfortunately plurality of people who call themselves "Republicans" are actually either liberals without ethics, or the most gullible people on the face of the earth.

-That the GOPe truly IS without a core and its union with leftist Trump AGAINST conservatism is the final death knell of a party that once stood for something.

-That the leftist stereotype of conservatives as modeled by (Democrat) Trump is unfortunately true in a minority of Republicans.  And that I can no longer defend that portion of what used to be my party.

-That there truly is a "bridge too far."  I'm not ashamed of my past votes for less than conservative candidates, but I cannot in good conscience vote for a stark raving mad Progressive without a shred of integrity.