PrintApril 21, 2011
The Trump Enigma
With the U.S. fiscal house of cards on, or at least near, life-support, America deserves to be able to make a clear choice on the direction it wishes to embark for the next four years. The Trump candidacy will make this at best a murky choice as no one really knows who Trump ideologically is.
Apart from his latest antics, including reviving the Obama birth certificate controversy, Trump is little bit of an enigma. Let's take a closer look at the apparent, and somewhat conflicting, ideology of Donald Trump.
Trump, in the past, said that Democrats are better for the country. He praised President Obama soon after he was elected. He has contributed more to Democrat candidates than Republicans in past election cycles, including far left candidates like Charles Rangel, Charles Schumer, and Anthony Weiner. He was registered as a Republican until 2000 when he apparently switched his party allegiance to the Democrat party. He holds many progressive stances on taxation (he is for a one time wealth tax), social issues (gay marriage for one), single payer healthcare, as well as what can be considered anti free trade positions alongside ideologically conflicting conservative stances. As a less meaningful anecdote, his daughter Ivanka is married to son of Charles Kushner, the staunchly partisan billionaire Democrat fundraiser (and a felon). In short, he is ‘at home' in the ultra-liberal environment of NYC.
These conflicting stances put Trump in the same category as Mayor Bloomberg and his ilk who have roamed the political spectrum in search of opportunities. One thing is clear: Donald Trump does not have the convictions of his own ideology because he is not about principles; he is clearly only about one thing: his own ego.
The coming elections are about America's future and the American people deserve unambiguous answers to critical questions in order to make an informed decision.
Is Trump a Democrat at heart who is out to assure that there will be no further conservative ascendancy? No one knows for sure.
Is he an egocentric crony capitalist? By all appearances, yes.
Can America survive a Trump presidency? Considering the critical juncture we find ourselves in, the answer is: 'no more than it can survive the presidency of any other egomaniacal opportunist regardless of party affiliation'.
One thing is for sure. The Republican establishment has to be wary of whom they are getting in to bed with. They do not only owe it to conservatives but to all of America.
Kerem Oner blogs at defendourconstitution.blogspot.com
