As I've written before, I have my doubts about Trump and am a diehard Ben Carson fan. Indeed, my blogging buddy Hoosierman and I have pretty much disagreed on Trump. We've lost a number of readers, I"m assuming because we are willing to openly discuss all the candidates but have little affection for the establishment candidates like Bush.
After several personal encounters with a couple Trump fans and reading a number of minority Trump fans and listening to his opponents' spiels, I'm (sort of) wondering if Trump really COULD be elected.
I wasn't really fair to last night's debate, having subjected myself to switching back and forth between Trump's CNN appearance and the Fox debate until I couldn't stand it anymore.
Let me just write my impressions, while I admit I probably gave short shrift to the Fox debate.
CNN's coverage was pretty stink-o. When I flipped back to it the first 15 minutes, their moderators had Bernie Sanders live event on screen while running a large headline saying "Waiting for Trump event."
Heh.
But the moderators talked and talked so then I noticed the multiple streaming outlets for Trump not to mention cSpan and YouTube. Even Buzzfeed had a link. There seemed to be an awful lot of online interest in the Trump event; we'll probably never know exactly how much, given all the outlets.
Which brings me to an interesting point.
As tech savvy as Democrats claim to be, Trump won that hands down.
So I flipped back and forth between Fox and cSpan.
Frankly, I was insulted by the attitudes of the Fox moderators even though FNC is pretty much the only establishment media I watch.
They seemed so old-guard--attractive but pre-determined in their focus on the Republican establishment.
CNN, otoh, was abysmal with a panel of the creakiest decrepit old line "thinkers" (and I use that term reflectively) they could find off the media street.
It was a relief to switch to cSpan, whose callers after the event were made up primarily of Democrat switchers to Trump.
Trump's event itself was lively and funny with appearances by Diamond and Silk and a couple of hard bitten soldiers who've been through wars. Hoosierman called it "touching" and "classy." Preceding these people were Santorum & Huckabee who, I have to admit, also endeared themselves to the audience.
Flipping back to the debate was, well, boring, even though Fox is claiming it was the second highest rated show in Fox history.
I'm pretty sick of moderators and talking heads acting like they know what's best for all of us dummies and that goes for all of 'em. They don't deserve our trust or even undying attention.
Bernie Sanders' crowds are evidence that even Democrats are fed up with status quo, though why the lemmings choose to shower their love on an old Commie with long nose hairs who's worshiped at the feet of socialism since he went on his honeymoon to Russia beats me.
Is Trump trustworthy?
Who knows? Is anyone?
I DO know that Trump has the most to lose with his empire and financially, so I do believe his motivations are rooted in a desire for America to be "great again."
Would Cruz make a good president? Carson? Rubio?
I believe these are good men and the fact that the Republican establishment hates Cruz actually makes him more appealing.
Traditionally I never vote in Ohio primaries as I consider myself an independent. I don't know what I will do when our primary comes around.
Again, I don't know.
But the fact that Trump is willing to spend his personal capital to win this race means something.
The fact that there is very real frustration and energy behind Trump's campaign means something.
What? Well, we will see, won't we.
I should add that none of this post is about policy, to my regret, because the populace doesn't really seem to be interested in Trump's shifting policies.
I suppose we can console ourselves on the trustworthy issue. While we may not know who can be trusted we certainly know those who cannot. I think if you had heard the disabled Green Beret John Wayne Walding's speech in it's entirety you have found it moving. It was too long and can faulted on technique but that aside the man had quite a bit to say and after all he was a warrior not an orator.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are probably right about that. I was impatient, flicking back and forth on the channels, with his oratory clumsiness. I fault myself on that. What's sad is that we are reduced to that: an unintellectual tapping of the foot when real people tell real stories of their lives. I do admire Trump for allowing Walding the opportunity.
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