Stacyhs
Penultimate Amazing
Trump has no political philosophy; he only believes in "whatever I can get out of itism".
Lincoln Project is producing good propaganda again
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Roger Ramjets
Philosopher
You're kidding, right?
Your rep's moral character is irrelevant. All that matters is getting elected to keep your party in power and support your 'moral' agenda.
But "whatever I can get out of itism" is a large part of conservative philosophy.Stacyhs said:
The truth is, most of Trump's political philosophies align closely with the majority of conservatives. His sexist, racist, pro business, anti-environment and isolationist desires are not based on mere expediency or financial gain, and he doesn't just tell people what they want to hear to increase his popularity, or fawn over dictators just to manipulate them, or want to build a wall or refer to African nations as '******** countries' just to improve his political standing. Trump is no more pretending that these are his actual beliefs than any conservative is.
Trump garnered a huge following among conservatives because for the most part his beliefs are their beliefs. He didn't join the Republican party just because he thought it would give him a better chance of winning, but because it was a better fit to his political philosophy than the Democratic party.
acbytesla
Penultimate Amazing
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No. I disagree. Trump is a salesman. Always has been. He tells people what they want to hear all the time. Anything to make the sale. Trump has been pro-choice all of his life. Trump hates guns. He was a Democrat for 30 years. Trump doesn't actually have a political philosophy. He has a personal philosophy. If it helps him, he'll do it.
He absolutely did join the Republican party because he could go further. I'm not really sure he wanted to win. Trump is an attention whore. Everything being about him thrills him to no end.
No doubt he would love this forum.
acbytesla
Penultimate Amazing
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I think you're right.
I give Trump some credit. He understands how to stay in the news. I'm convinced he has created many a controversy just for attention. He'd rather there be a negative story about him than no story at all.
Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
Donny would strip naked in a cage and eat his own **** if it got him more headlines. And some conservatives would cheer him on and call it "making the libz cry".
Stacyhs
Penultimate Amazing
Agreed. He is the epitome of self-serving opportunism. For god's sake, the POS had Bill and Hillary Clinton at his wedding to Melania in 2005.
Roger Ramjets
Philosopher
Trump's been a racist and misogynist all this life. He has long supported the death penalty and being tough on crime, and of course he has always been very 'pro-business'. Being pro-choice doesn't make him not a conservative either. 35% of republicans today think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. In 2014, 44% of republicans favored a ban on assault weapons. In May 2013 Trump said he was a “Big Second Amendment believer but background checks to weed out the sicko's are fine.”
Not all of them. And not now. Most people's political views change as they get older, usually becoming more conservative. If he was a Democrat today he wouldn't be a progressive one.
Who does that not apply to? Very few people have personal philosophies that conflict with their stated political views. Many of Trump's views are political. They might be self-serving, but what conservative politics isn't?
You could say that about pretty much every Republican. It's the cornerstone of their philosophy.
Bottom line - if Trump was only pretending to have a certain political philosophy to garner votes, he would still be president. Instead he has doubled down again and again on extreme right-wing philosophy, even when it cost him votes. He is in that place because he is comfortable there. Trump once said he leaned Democrat, but now he leans the other way - and it's not just a ruse.
acbytesla
Penultimate Amazing
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Yes he's been a supporter of the death penalty. That's one. But outside of his own taxes he has never really been a supporter of traditional GOP stances. He personally could give a damn about abortion. He may be emblematic of the corruption end justifies the means attitude that has become the GOP. I just believe his political affiliation is not based at all on political philosophy, but on self centered economics and convenience.
So in a way, we're both right.
newyorkguy
Penultimate Amazing
We probably shouldn't be ignoring the fact that as recently as 2008 trump was endorsing Hillary Clinton's bid to get the Democratic nomination to run for president.
Also, not to be ignored, the reports trump originally ran for the Republican nomination in 2016 as a strategy to boost ratings for his reality TV show The Apprentice, at a time the show's ratings were dropping. Nor the fact trump didn't expect to win -- even on Election Day 2016 -- and was stunned when he he began to realize he might be the next president.
Also, not to be ignored, the reports trump originally ran for the Republican nomination in 2016 as a strategy to boost ratings for his reality TV show The Apprentice, at a time the show's ratings were dropping. Nor the fact trump didn't expect to win -- even on Election Day 2016 -- and was stunned when he he began to realize he might be the next president.
Cain
Straussian
This also describes my immigrant father's views, but he was hard-core, pro-Democrat since before he could vote. Trump's temperamentally conservative, probably because of his formative upbringing in the '50s, but relatively apolitical. That makes him like a lot of conservatives, and, indeed, regular people.
He does not have well-defined opinions about abstract concepts like the "proper" role of government or the market. In any event, his temperamental disposition is easily, comically over-ridden by his narcissism and perceived self-interest. He's extremely susceptible to conspiracy thinking (not just a savvy operator unloading conspiracies for his own political gain, but prone to self-deception, which makes him a more effective huckster). When someone in a philosophical debate is caught in an apparent self-contradiction, there's a redefinition of terms, rationalizations, etc. Trump will just blatantly lie. It may not even technically be a lie if he believes it.
Median voter theory is falling out of favor; politicians are now more highly motivated to mobilize the base. Trump's almost certainly lying when it comes to being a Christian. What's fascinating about Trump is his unpredictability. He is chaos (which demands attention). He's willing to take positions that occasionally upset his most fervent supporters, which lends credence to his "authenticity." He recently said people should get the vaccine. This could be viewed as a cunning calculation (most Republicans are vaccinated, and those who aren't will still support him anyway). He's spoken ill of Fox News more than once (and boycotted one of their debates in the 2016 campaign). He's stubborn as hell, yet easily manipulated. And maybe that's the appeal: Competing factions of Republicans believe he can be manipulated -- the last person to talk to him will have the most influence -- but he'll never be under the sustained sway of the elite liberal establishment.