Time to Jump on the Trump Bandwagon? By Blake Walley

Donald Trump is not what I would call an ideal candidate, and I certainly don’t stand by everything he says. I would prefer that he apologized a little more, and doubled-down a little less. But I don’t believe for a moment that he’s an actual racist, and I’m fascinated that so many people (including media outlets) continue to get away with reporting that as though it is a bona fide fact. Do they honestly believe that he’s literally a racist? Who knows? Maybe they’ll say I’m just defending a racist? That seems to be the level we’ve sunk to in the media these days. Does he have a tendency to say some outrageous things? Absolutely. But at least he has the bravado to say what a lot of people are thinking. Agree or disagree, I can at least respect the man.

Now if it were up to me, I would easily pick Rand Paul out of the current field so far. But he’s currently facing an uphill battle on the bubble right now with the future uncertain. In fact it was just announced that he will not be invited to participate in the pre-caucus debate in Iowa! Apparently, his supposed poll numbers don’t show enough public interest. Not enough interest? He has 1,000 precinct captains in Iowa alone! He won the straw poll at CPAC! And before Trump stole his thunder, he was considered the top candidate to beat Hillary! And now he’s completely ineligible just two weeks before the great Iowa showdown?

Since when did these polls become so infallible anyway? Are these random people really going to show up and vote for so-and-so just because they pushed the #3 button on their telephone? It is the first debate of 2016 in Iowa; a big deal because it is only a few days before our nation’s traditional first caucus. Now we will finally see how well those polls really reflected reality. Now things just got serious… so why are we eliminating two candidates, two weeks before 2016’s first debate? How could we not give all the candidates one more fair chance to make it big at the bellwether?

Whatever you think of Rand Paul, there’s no question that he should be in the top five potential candidates. Think about this for a minute: while he might not be every republican’s first choice, he would probably be in the top 2 or 3, and just about everyone’s top five. And let’s face it, the only five republicans that should even be on stage at this point are Paul, Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Carly Fiorina (the other victim of elimination).

Ben Carson is a good man, but is in over his head. Kasich is an unappealing retread. Christie is a proven failure and wannabe tyrant. And former establishment favorite Jeb! Bush is a hopeless bore-fest. But the good news for the GOP neocons is that they really don’t need Jeb! anymore anyway. The old guard oligarchs can (and will) live vicariously through Marco (the Manchurian) Rubio!

Say what you want about the Republicans, but they have an interesting mix of people and ideas. The Democrats on the other hand, are facing an extinction-level emergency! On the surface, the two most obvious problems being identity and age. We have two major candidates: one is pushing 70, and the other will be 75! Who would have guessed that the top candidates for the Democratic Party in the year 2016 would be just two white people in their 70’s? And their emergency backup Biden will be 74! Wow, what happened to the once proud Democrat Party? How could this possibly be the best they have to offer?

Over the last ten years, the republicans have evolved, while the democrats have devolved. The republicans reinvented themselves with Tea Party and Libertarian-leaning factions. Democrats however, have completely lost their personality. What does it mean to be a democrat these days? One of the candidates is an open socialist, and the other one doesn’t seem to know! Of course their embarrassment of a chairperson (DNC Debbie), failed to deliver an answer about this question not once, but twice! So let me ask you: what is the difference between a Progressive, a Socialist, and a modern-day Democrat? I don’t know either, but it’s definitely not the party of Jefferson or JFK anymore…

As far as the candidates go:

I kind of like Bernie, and I think the majority of his followers have their heart in the right place. However, I don’t think I could ever vote for him. Even though I probably agree with him on more issues than any other candidate; we are so far apart on the others, that he automatically disqualifies himself. The fundamental problem involving the economy; while we could completely agree that crony-capitalism lies at the heart of the problem, our plans to fix it would be vastly contrasted. I see only two solutions: a return to a limited-government, free-market system… or we try something new and innovative. On the flip side, Bernie believes in big-government socialism. Really? Was it socialism that made us the wealthiest, most admired, desired, and most powerful nation on Earth? I get why big corporations are bad, but how would big bureaucracy be any better Bernie?

Hillary on the other hand, represents everything wrong with Washington. Too much baggage, too much corruption, too much controversy. Old, out-of-touch, out-of-bounds. How could anyone believe that someone as entrenched with the establishment as Hillary Clinton could be good for this country? Would things really be any better had she won in 2008? She is as much of a war hawk as the Neo-cons! And does anyone think that she will reform Wall Street or fix the economy? I’m sure the big players that donate to the Clinton foundation will get special treatment, but does anyone else believe that things will get better for the rest of us little people? Besides a lot of scripted talking points and empty promises, what is Hillary going to do for you? It’s very simple: the establishment wants her to win. Wall Street would be thrilled, and Oligarchs world-wide will rejoice! How will that work out for the rest of us? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not find out…

Let’s be honest, the Bush regime was atrocious. George seemed like a nice enough guy, but Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rove were rotten to their cores. Then the Obama administration (hope and change) promised to fix the republican mess… except it really just extended the Bush problems while making everything else worse! So spectacular was the Obama disaster, that the ‘left-for-dead’ republicans were resurrected and rose to take everything back over! The democrats lost the House, the Senate, and the States! Sure, there were a few social-issue victories, but just about everything else was an enormous failure, deception, and disappointment. This is no longer the party of Jefferson and JFK. This is the party of Saul Alinsky, endless government, gun-control, global warming, and political ‘correctness.’

Trump might not be my first choice, but he’s an angel compared to Hillary. He also happens to be one of the few candidates that could actually fix our Nation’s monumental problems. After all, this is a man with a reputation for getting things done. He’s also someone that can’t be bought and sold by elites and special interests. He’s smart, seasoned, and an American icon. Is he ideal? Not necessarily. But he could also be a big step in the right direction with a chance for greatness. And that I could live with…