WILL DONALD TRUMP BE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AS A SPOILER?

[J.R.]

Things just get curiouser and curiouser... Just as we thought Donald Trump was concerned about the negative direction in which our country is being pushed and shoved, he forcefully contradicts many things he has said for the past few weeks. Now, he is extolling Obama as potentially a great president and proclaiming that President George W. Bush is evil. We're now left wondering what's going on with "The Donald" What is he up to, really?

First, he announced he was going to run for President as a Republican. Then, with much fanfare, he publicly challenged Obama to provide proof of this eligibility to be President. Then he made other disparaging remarks about Obama and said he was a terrible president. Then he announced he was setting up an exploratory committee for his run for President. Now, we see a flip-flop on his stated opinion of President Obama.

What happened to produce such a change? Did he get smacked down by some of his wealthy friends in high places and shut out of the elites' inner circle? Did he get back-channel threats from the powers that be? Did he get indications of investigations or regulatory intrusions into his business operations? Did he receive threats of lawsuits? Those things are the usual modus operandi of the current administration and are not out of the question, considering what we know of their actions for the past 2 1/2 years.

When you look at all that Trump has said over the last few weeks to make it look as if he identified with and supported the Tea Party Movement, it makes you wonder if, in light of what he's saying now, he was simply trying to split the Tea Party Movement and peel off independents that have become a part of it. It also makes me believe he's entering this presidential race to be a spoiler in the election and divide the vote so Obama can win.

A major contradiction is that Trump recently, while saying he is good friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton and they are great people, that he knows and likes Barack and Michelle Obama, and he also knows and likes George and Laura Bush, now does a 180 degree turn and publicly proclaims that George Bush is "evil." It seems schizophrenic, but "The Donald" is shrewd and, through his own ups and downs financially, has always managed to land on his feet again to rebuild his fortune. Is he now going to use that fortune to split the vote so that Obama, whom he is now doing a 180 to extol, can win re-election?

Big question: Will Donald Trump be the Ross Perot of the 2012 presidential election?

 

Have a look at these two videos: 

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/88778/-i-ny1-exclusive---i--...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/04/14/donald_trump_obam...

[J.R.]

Agreed!  I always try to fact-check information, through several reliable souces that I know to be reliable. And, when speaking with a candidate, I ask direct questions about the Constitution that are hard to get around answering and I usually have follow-up questions ready to use, depending on how they answer the first one. If they try to change the subject, it's over, the end.

I don't have enough confidence in the Republican Party's advice on candidates, because they tend to support establishment Republicans that have been around a long time and are able to raise a lot of money. Career politicians don't interest me unless they're strict Constitutionalists and have a consistently conservative voting record. I'm sick of the RINOs, earmark addicts, and the dealmakers who trade votes like poker chips in a smoke-filled back room with one lightbulb hanging over the table so their identities are blurred and indistinguishable. These are usually the go-along-to-get-along unreliables. When confronted with one of those, you know it's time to say "NEXT??" 

Whatever happened to honesty, openness, and good old common sense among the career politicos?  Do they bring the questionable qualities we see in them now to Washington with them? Or do they just become jaded game-players after being there a few years or forty?  Either way, they need to go back home and make way for some more candidates like Rand Paul and Michelle Bachman who are strict Constitutionalists, articulate communicators, highly intelligent and knowledgeable on the issues that matter most, support Tea Party principles and objectives, and aren't afraid to buck the establishment and the status quo. That's my kind of politician.  Too bad we can't clone them.

[J.R.]

Great job, Roma!  You can be our aggregator of facts, since you do such an excellent and thorough job of information gathering. Plus, you have provided us with a road map for doing our own research, including ideas that we can use, even on the local level where voters don't always know how to obtain the information needed to make a wise voting decision. This is a logical, well-reasoned process that is necessary before making any voting decision.  No one has enough information to make a decision this early on in an 18-19 month process, during which anything can happen or be said to totally change our perceptions of candidates. 

One of my litmus tests for candidates is: Where do they stand on strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution and how is that refected in their voting record, past actions and prior comments?  Any candidate who thinks the Constitution is a "living document" and that it can "change to accommodate modern times," is automatically out of the race.  Obama treats the Constitution like silly putty and it would not surprise me to see him, his unvetted socialist czars, and union bigthugs burn it on the National Mall... or the front steps of the White House.  

[J.R.]

Barbara, I really like Herman Cain.  I just viewed a video of Cain speaking with Neil Cavuto, in which Cain expresses his opinion about Donald Trump.  Here is the link to the video:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/04/18/herman_cain_repla...

 

As soon as the Republican candidates get beyond the exploratory phase, and the sooner the better, then we'll be able to flesh out exactly what they stand for, in order to make intelligent comparisons and decide whom to support.  I'd like to find an aggregated source that has all of the conservative candidates' background information and platforms they're running on in the candidates' own words, so as to remove the possibility of bias in presenting it... and without any filtering on the part of the aggregator.  Sort of a "here I am and here is what I stand for and will do" sort of thing. Then, we will have more of a basis from which to do further research on the one(s) we are interested in, check their voting records if they have been in office before, and closely watch what they say and do during the campaign, so that we can winnow out the less desirable ones.

[Barbara Ciulla]

I agree with J.R., you are knowledgable - I love talking about this stuff.  What do you think of Herman Cain.  I listen to him on the radio sometimes and now I see him on TV a bit.  It's refreshing.  I wish I had time to see more of the candidates. 

[J.R.]

Barbara, the left is not going to like anything that takes media attention and star power away from Obama.  And, for that reason, I don't mind Trump getting the media attention.  I downloaded one video of Trump in today's news that was the most serious and direct I've seen him and, since he associates with a lot of high powered Democrats and Independents, as well as Republicans in the big-money business world, he might be learning of worrying things we haven't heard of yet.  I also saw another video where he expressed concerns for the world his children would be dealing with and that was the most human and personally serious thing I'd heard from him.

In a way, I'm glad he's stirring up some commotion, because the very serious potential Republican candidates need to get their minds made up about running and get started, since Obama has already declared and gotten a head start in raising money, going on the offense and doing some pre-emptive stikes against some Republicans, mostly against Donald Trump.  Of course, Trump is a fighter and he'll hit back and they wouldn't be going hard after him if he didn't have them worried enough.  I guess we'll be finding out which other Republicans have the courage to throw verbal punches.  I know Michelle Bachman would and I like her a lot.  So would Rand Paul and Jim DeMint and I like them, too.  If Romney had been more assertive and outspoken, I believe he would have done better in 2008.  Looks as if this is going to be a very interesting 18 or 19 months.  Stay tuned...

[Barbara Ciulla]

I am getting the feeling he isn't serious either, but he does stumble into it, I'm afraid he will be the type of person they can make "deals" with and eventually he'll be more like them.  I heard Jesse Ventura last week say Trump is just rattling his sword, he's never gonna leave his Domain.    But he does seem to be stirring up some commotion and waking people up.  An I see the left is going to start playing dirty very soon cause they don't like what's happening. 

[J.R.]

Well, Tamara, from the polls of the last couple days, it appears you are right and the majority of people are not taking Trump seriously.  I did see a video of him today stating emphatically that he will only run as a Republican, not an Independent.  But, then he qualified even that statement.  However, I can understand that he might be concerned for economic reasons, both personally and business-wise, and maybe he's just waking up to the fact that if something isn't done to turn things around, we will all have a new reality to deal with---including his own family.  Apparently he has used bankruptcy as a means of getting rid of debt, so that he could start fresh several times.  To be successful doing that would seem to require a huge stash or backing somewhere, in order to overcome the bad credit rating and stigma that usually follows bankruptcy and affects borrowing required to provide capital for new ventures.  Of course, with so many bankruptcies in the past two years, and more likely to come along with the predicted increased numbers of foreclosures over the next year, it's anybody's guess what will happen in availability of credit for anyone.  We're in a new area where there's no clarity and it's hard to speculate about what will happen even in the near future. 

I'm just thankful that so many states are passing laws to protect their state sovereignty. Like Arizona, for instance.  They just passed a final bill in the Arizona Legislature requiring proof of natural born citizenship to get on the general election ballot as a presidential candidate, which Governor Jan Brewer will definitely sign into law.  Other states are proceeding in that direction, as well, and that's a barrier to Obama's getting electoral votes from those states if he doesn't provide the required proof, get on the ballot, and win the vote in those states.  Many states are also beefing up their identification requirements at voting precincts, to combat cheating and voting by people who are not American citizens.

[tamara stephenson]

He means to create publicity for himself; this is nothing new for him, just a different forum.  This is a man who marketed Trump Water for goodness' sake.  I do not believe he is a serious contender, and from a man who has no problem filing bankruptcy whenever it suits him or his many business ventures, he is not the man we need in this very serious time in our country.

[J.R.]

Sorry, Barbara, I appreciate your comment, but all the videos I've provided are from 2011, in the past few weeks, actually. That's when he made appearances in a variety of media interviews. You can see more on Sean Hannity's website and at realclearpolitics.com. I thought Trump sounded interesting at first, but then I began to see and read conflicting things he's said. It is hard to call it flip-flopping, since that implies only two positions. To me, he seems to be all over the board. He's now called three different presidents the "worst president ever." Those three were Jimmie Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.  I guess we're all left scratching our heads and wondering what he really means.

[Barbara Ciulla]

Trump admitted today that he was all for Obama during the election and as time went on he didn't like what he was doing to this country.  He admitted this on Rush Limbaugh's show today.  He also admitted he has a lot of democrat friends and has donated alot of money to them in the past.  But he is not flip flopping presently.  You may be watching old videos of him from 2008 or something.