The Trump Card...

davekc

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As it sits right now, Cruz looks to be the one that represents the hard right. In a general election, I would say Trump with all his baggage has a better chance. He appears to be getting support from other places outside of the republicans. Think that is going to be needed to beat Hillary. Plus, he is more likely to go after her past and not really care what he says. Not so sure Hillary & Bill can handle him. Tax issues and that real estate school just aren't going to be enough to slow him down in my opinion.
 

Turtle

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Every notice how Cruz gives a little "God bless <insert state that he won>" and is mum on God's blessings for the states that he didn't win? Cracks me up.
 
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Windsor

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We move along, far less encumbered by the litmus test wills of evangelicals trying to dictate how we think, what we do and how we live. Republicans know they can't win a national election on Republican votes alone, they need Independents and at least some fiscally conservative Liberals to win. Traditionally, and it's still the case with the Elites in power, the tactic has been to win over (if not force) others to believe in the same list of social litmus tests required to be a Conservative. You must be against abortion, you must be against immigration amnesty, you must be pro-military unilateralism, you must be anti anything LGBTQ, you must support the War on Drugs, including harsh sentencing, and you must support and uphold "traditional values" (of Ward and June Cleaver of the 1950s).

But there are a lot of Conservatives who don't buy into the socially conservative litmus tests. These are the voters that the GOP desperately wants, but only on their terms, not the terms of the voters. These are the voters who, while not exactly straight-up liberal on social issues, don't tow the evangelical party line on them, either. These are the exact voters that Trump is gathering up, with many of them being evangelical Christians, which just chaps the butts of evangelical leaders. Trump's candidacy has brought to light the real distance between evangelical leaders and rank-and-file Christians similar to the one coming to light in the GOP.

Evangelical leaders are urging Christians to evaluate candidates using the Bible, but the rank and file Christians are using other criteria, such as seeking a candidate who will take the fight to ISIS instead of letting it come to us, who is against socialist liberalism, who is against the growing secularism among Americans, and who will fight the economic insecurity for the country and their families. The Public Religion Research Institute found that white, working-class evangelicals (what used to be the middle class) are more than twice as likely to support Trump than are evangelicals with a college degree.

One evangelical leader, John Stemberger, (head of the Florida Family Policy Council, an affiliate of Focus on the Family), said many Christians have changed, and for the worse. "The litmus tests that for so long defined the boundaries for morally acceptable candidates seem to have been abandoned by many Christians. Evangelical Christians are looking at those issues less and less. They've just become too worldly, letting anger and frustration control them, as opposed to trusting in God."

"Too worldly." Wow.

Look what trusting God has gotten the right wing religious conservatives. Obama. Eight years.

Follow, lead, or get out of the way. Right now, evangelical Christians are just in the way.

David Green (Hobby Lobby guy and all-around conservative hero) said, "I cannot ... understand why the faith world would come alongside someone that completely is different than what we would like our children to be,"

The answer to that for rank and file Christians is best summed up in a comment by the Reverend Carl Gallups, a Southern Baptist pastor from Milton, Florida, who gave the invocation at Trump's Pensacola rally last January, when he said, "If you are not thoroughly satisfied with what you might interpret the depth of his faith might be, then the next thing we must look at is the candidate who will best preserve your First Amendment rights and allow you to express your Christian faith. We're not electing a priest, a pope or a pastor. We're electing a president, a CEO, a commander in chief. I'm not perfectly happy with Donald Trump either, but I'm a realist."
When or if Trump wins the nomination evangelicals will still vote for him in November even though he's the least evangelical of anyone running for president right now. If Jesus was voting he dam sure wouldn't be voting for the Donald. It's hilarious. As long as he's a republican right?
 

davekc

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When or if Trump wins the nomination evangelicals will still vote for him in November even though he's the least evangelical of anyone running for president right now. If Jesus was voting he dam sure wouldn't be voting for the Donald. It's hilarious. As long as he's a republican right?

Probably. Same way the democrats will vote for Hilliary the crook.
 
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Windsor

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Probably. Same way the democrats will vote for Hilliary the crook.
Seriously? I'm not going to look like a fool and be a Hillary cheerleader and say that Hillary hasn't done some shady stuff. If your going to call her a crook please make sure you point out the long list of shady s_ _ _ that "Donald the job creator" has done. The point of what I was saying is that it amazes me how ppl will vote for trump just because he is currently running on the Republican ticket. The same trump that has given millions to the clintons to help fund their campaigns. Give me a break, the GOP don't even want him to be president. The damage he will do to the Republican party will be unreversable if he wins. Wants to build a wall but admits to hiring illegals to work in his hotels. He said it was to hot in the summer for Americans to work. Wow! I don't want to vote for any of them to tell you the truth, but trump is the one that I dont want to see in office the most.
 

Windsor

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I noticed the Republican candidates waited to argue about the size of their pinus on national TV till AFTER the black guy dropped out. Lmao
 

Turtle

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The funny thing is, besides the fact that David Duke left the KKK 40 years ago, David Duke never actually endorsed Trump. And considering Trump's daughter converted to Judaism and she and Donald have close ties to Israel and he is very sympathetic to Israel, I wouldn't look for Duke to endorse him any time soon.

In any event, I can't imagine Trump, Cruz or anyone else refusing votes from anybody.
 

davekc

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Seriously? I'm not going to look like a fool and be a Hillary cheerleader and say that Hillary hasn't done some shady stuff. If your going to call her a crook please make sure you point out the long list of shady s_ _ _ that "Donald the job creator" has done. The point of what I was saying is that it amazes me how ppl will vote for trump just because he is currently running on the Republican ticket. The same trump that has given millions to the clintons to help fund their campaigns. Give me a break, the GOP don't even want him to be president. The damage he will do to the Republican party will be unreversable if he wins. Wants to build a wall but admits to hiring illegals to work in his hotels. He said it was to hot in the summer for Americans to work. Wow! I don't want to vote for any of them to tell you the truth, but trump is the one that I dont want to see in office the most.

I wouldn't raise the flag for either one of them. But, it is slowly starting to look like the crook or the clown which I have said before. The only upside I see on Trump is he will scare the daylights out of the Washington establishment on both sides.
 

Pilgrim

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I wouldn't raise the flag for either one of them. But, it is slowly starting to look like the crook or the clown which I have said before. The only upside I see on Trump is he will scare the daylights out of the Washington establishment on both sides.
We know what we get with Hillary - she's got a record in govt as Senator and SECSTATE, and it reflects someone who is very liberal, corrupt, unethical and incompetent. Also, her tenure as FLOTUS doesn't offer anything to offset that picture, considering her management of Willie's Bimbo Eruptions, TravelGate, Rose Law Firm billing records episode, etc. In spite of all that, there are segments of the population that will vote for her anyway because she's a Democrat and that's who the mainstream media supports.

With Trump we don't know what we'll get as a politician and what his political core beliefs really are, although he's probably more moderate than many of his fans want to believe. As a chief executive he looks pretty good, and his prowess as a showman is glaringly obvious; that's what counts in an election nowadays - how a candidate is perceived by a TV audience. He's an expert in manipulating the media - social, print & TV; he's everywhere, and he's getting most of it free. Lastly, he's probably the one GOP candidate least likely to be intimidated by the Clintons, and won't go easy on Hillary during debates or on the campaign trail because she's a woman. That said, he would be the lesser of the two evils - especially if he chose a really good running mate.
 
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muttly

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The whole Trump/ David Duke dust up was overblown IMO. He disavowed him publicly. More about the media and the republican establishment trying to throw mud on Trump. There are other issues about Trump that are problematic, but this one is more contrived than anything.
 
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