My Assessment on the Trump Candidacy

As a Conservative all my life, I have not seen the like of this election cycle of both parties. In specific, the nomination of Donald Trump to be the GOP nominee is bizarre to say the least. I will give my perception of this process and explain why I am sitting out this election cycle.

- Jul. 2016

My impression of Trump goes back over 10 years long before he decided to run for the Presidency. This was over the donation of Trump State Park which is located a few miles away from my house. You can read about it here.

In full disclosure, at the start of this election cycle, I supported Dr.Ben Carson first and later after he dropped out, I became a Senator Ted Cruz supporter. He was my choice but unfortunately, he did not prevail. That is our system. In either case, I believe any of the 16 other candidates on the GOP side would have been a better choice than Hillary.

This was the year of the outsider. That was why Carson and Trump and Cruz were near the front for most of the campaign. The establishment just didn't get the anger that exists in the populace. They are fed up by Congressional leaders who seems to go along with whatever the Administration proposes especially in the budget and spending. The rise of the TEA party help put the GOP in the majority in both houses and yet they were treated badly by the leadership.

I believe they made the fatal mistake early on by not supporting a Conservative and not taking Trump seriously until it was too late. If they had supported Cruz or Carson early and asked some of the other candidates to drop out to consolidate the anti Trump vote, Trump would not have the momentum he had and won at the end with less than a majority.

• He is not a true Conservative
• He is an egotist and thin skinned
• He was the ultimate "insider outsider"
• He is Bombastic and lack temperament
• He is a showman of the reality TV type
• He calls people names ...(little Marco, Lying Ted...)
• He believes in Big Government...
• He does not understand the Constitution
• He is self serving
• He supported past Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and H. Clinton.
• He has NY "values", the one's everyone knows in middle America.
• He helped to create the mess we have in Washington DC
• He speaks and tweets first before thinking... Not Presidential
• He is the "Crony Capitalist" that uses his money and influence to make more money.
• He wrote the "Art of the Deal", but he probably will make the deal that benefits him and the American people 2nd.
• He is "liberal" on some social policies
• He never apologizes...(who among us has never made a mistake)

Despite all of the above, I don't believe Trump is a racist. He cannot survive Hollywood with his popular Apprentice shows if he had a racist bone in his body. Look what happened to Paula Deen.

Despite some of the ideas I agree with him on such as securing the border, on balance, he will be bad for America.

• Immigration and the wall - He will not be able to fulfill his promise. He may want to do it but Congress and even some Republicans will stop him.
• Trade policies - His trade tariffs will not be good for our economy. A better way would be to reduce Corporate tax rates so as to even the playing field.
• Healthcare - Unfortunately, it is too late to repeal Obamacare. It is too entrenched in our system. We are stuck with it until something better is proposed. Mr. Trump have indicated in the past that he favors a single payer system like in Canada.
• Imminent Domain - He supports the use of imminent domain to confiscate private property for private development. That is contrary to what it is designed.
• Spending and deficits - He will drive our deficits higher with his policies. Reducing government spending should be the first priority, by either party.

I would not be surprised if he is elected, he would rename "Air Force One" to "Trump Force One."

As I said in the introduction, for the first time in 40 years, I am sitting out a Presidential race. I may just do a write-in candidate in protest. Trump reminds me of the character in the movie "The Music Man" and Hillary reminds me of Netflix's "House of Cards" show. I believe both candidates are deeply flawed in different ways. Both will not serve the American people well. I hope I am wrong but not likely. I welcome civil debate on this issue.

Yorktown NY