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Of late, I have been having an internal debate in my mind
about my level of support for POTUS Trump. I definitely support his Presidency
because I am a financial and foreign policy conservative, and he has delivered
on both points. Quite frankly, he is more in line with my “liberal” social
values because he has distanced himself from the religious right on abortion
and LGBT issues.
My enthusiastic support for “candidate Trump” was the
attraction of an outsider who would disrupt the political norms of Washington,
D.C. and ….yes…. drain the swamp. Problem is, the swamp is a muddy pit today
and we need a bridge to get to the other side. I am uncomfortable with his
“shoot from the hip” and “instinctive” style of communicating. It’s one thing
to be a candidate, and it’s another when you are President. We all know that
Trump’s Presidential demeanor is well below the norm, especially compared to
the telegenic and media beloved Barak Obama, but I am uncomfortable with his
constant off the cuff remarks on twitter to criticize and humiliate allies and
trade partners. He could make the same
comments using private diplomatic channels and not force the other side into a
defensive position where they don’t have and ‘out”.
For the record, I used to be a Democrat, having voted for
Bill Clinton twice. With that said, the Democratic party is not even an option
for me now because it has shifted so far away from where the party was 10-15
years ago - so it is not even an option today. In my top 5 policy positions is
support for Israel and concern about radical Islam. In my opinion, Jews who
vote Democratic these days don’t prioritize support for Israel because if they
did they would not be able to live with the body evidence showing the hostility
of the Democratic party towards Israel.
More often than not, politics has been a process where you
hold your nose and pull the lever for the least bad choice. Trump and Clinton
was a good example of this in action. IT’S OK TO BE A CONSERVITIVE AND NOT LIKE
TRUMP, but it is important to support him because we are in a binary political
system and political power is about party politics. The Republican Party had
control of both houses for 2 years and there was a lot they did right - like
the low hanging fruit of deregulation and the tax cuts, but the Republicans did
nothing to fix Obamacare or the immigration issue. I blame this “failure” on
the Republicans like Jeff Flake, John McCain and Bob Corker to name a few. They
either were uncommitted Republicans, like Flake who was really an independent,
or traditional “Swamp Republicans” like McCain and Corker. These “Resist Trump”
Republicans stonewalled the slim Republican majority by using their leverage to
scuttle significant progress on the Republican policy agenda.
Now we face a Democratic House and a Republican Senate. How
each party handles themselves over the next two years will influence who wins
in the 2020 election. The wild card? POTUS Trump. He is the undisputed leader
of the Republican Party and for the most part, the Swamp Republicans are gone.
If Trump reaches across the aisle with reasonable policies and the Democrats
refuse to negotiate a deal, it will make them look bad in 2020. POTUS Trump is
not dumb by any means. He knows how to shape public opinion even with the media
95% against him. I just hope he matures
in the office and starts to listen to his advisors and is a lot more deliberate
in his comments and actions. “Walk softly and carry a big stick” should be
Trumps motto for the next 2 years.
