drsmooth wrote:

Brantt wrote: Ross Perot had a brain and at least one legitimate issue. Trump has his dick in his hand.

He is a fraud, and a clown, and a racist, and a boor, and embodies practically everything lousy about America.

TomatoPie wrote:
Should be a rule that if you and I agree on anything, pass a law

jerseyhoya wrote:

Brantt wrote:FWIW, I am a staunch Democrat who has literally not voted for a Republican candidate since the year 2000 (voted for McCain in the PA primary vs Bush). The Republican establishment's pushing and condoning of Bush / Rove's actions in the 2000 primaries vs McCain, who really was as close to an independent at the time, swore me away from the party ever since (affair with a black woman and child out of wedlock robo calls and mailers BS).

I'm supporting Trump mainly for one reason.......he is the only candidate who is beholden to nobody. Every other candidate on either side is bought and paid for. For God sake, Jeb and Hillary have the same exact donors buying them off......huge corporations who cannot lose no matter what. You know exactly what you are going to get with every other candidate in the field on either side and that is more of the same cronyism and disgraceful (IMO) governing.

Would Trump be a good POTUS? I have no idea, but IMO the system is so shattered at this point that it's worth taking a shot on a guy who is completely anti-establishment. Anyone else falling into that category has zero chance of winning a primary let alone a nomination.

It's a protest vote, but hopefully one with a chance.

A couple of things, even if it's just a throw the bums out/protest vote to shake up the system - you say you haven't voted for the GOP since the dirty tricks from the Bush campaign (or people affiliated with it) in 2000 against McCain. In the past couple of months, Trump has said racially inflammatory things - and he's the candidate, not some backroom guy scheming about #$!&@. He's also impugned the integrity of McCain and POWs generally. If shadowy attacks that went below the belt caused you to dump an entire party, Trump seems like a weird candidate to gravitate toward.

I think you are right Trump is rich enough and unmoored from typical party affiliations so he could spend a lot of his own money and combined with the free media attention he is getting, run an election campaign without becoming beholden to the typical interest groups (although I think people very much overplay how much of a role this plays in presidential elections, but that's an unnecessary digression). However, as doc notes, he has begun accepting donations, and he even attended a fundraising event given by a pro-Trump Super PAC last month. He's worth a lot of money, but a) it's not clear how liquid he is and b) it's always more fun to spend other people's money than your own. I think if he stays in, he will accept a lot of $$ like anyone else.

Beyond that, Trump may not be beholden to the typical GOP or Dem interest groups or the Wall Street donors or whatever, but he's beholden to his own ego. The entirety of his campaign to this point, when asked about any specific policy position, seems to boil down to "trust me I'm a smart guy I went to Wharton and wrote The Art of the Deal and am really, really rich. I'll do something good that you like." which seems pretty unsustainable to me. So you don't get a guy who needs to satisfy the Christian right or public sector unions or hedge fund managers or the #BlackLivesMatter folks once in office, but you're stuck with a guy whose platform is centered on narcissism and other nonsense.

Maybe you think things are so broken that all of that is OK to you. As a vehicle for change, Trump might be doing a decent job highlighting some flaws with American governance, but his 'solutions' wouldn't fix much and would probably make many problems significantly worse.

Brantt wrote:And I would much rather vote for a candidate beholden to his own ego than one beholden to interest groups or Wall Street. That's a no-brainer for me.

The Nightman Cometh wrote:And Frank Luntz thinks we are underestimating the staying power of Trump's campaign more or less because they people voting for him are contradictory idiots. Somewhat concerning if those idiots could find a polling place.

Bucky wrote:well at least i agree with brantt's very last sentence

Brantt wrote:

The Nightman Cometh wrote:And Frank Luntz thinks we are underestimating the staying power of Trump's campaign more or less because they people voting for him are contradictory idiots. Somewhat concerning if those idiots could find a polling place.

I mean the establishment on both sides can keep beating this drum, but the reality is there are a lot more than "contradictory idiots" who are starting to get on the Trump bandwagon. I'm dealing with people every day who are executives in mainly mid-size manufacturing companies who are loving what he's bringing to the table. Will they ultimately vote for him......who knows, probably depends on how things shake out here in the next 6 months. But if nothing else, they are considering it.

The far left progressives and liberals talking down to or about the typical middle class american is only fueling the fire.

The Crimson Cyclone wrote:

Brantt wrote:And I would much rather vote for a candidate beholden to his own ego than one beholden to interest groups or Wall Street. That's a no-brainer for me.

Well, I'm certain Bernie isn't beholden to Wall Street, so what special interests groups are Bernie beholden to that you are opposed to?