The underlying issue in this election for the GOP has been extreme dissatisfaction the GOP base have with the leadership in Washington. The nation turned the house over to the GOP after only four years of Democrat control. This was an obvious attempt to gain control of the purse. This was followed by GOP gaining control of the Senate. A number of Tea Party stalwarts were elected to both houses. Not only have McConnell and Boehner failed to respond to the wishes of the electorate but have carried out vendettas against the Tea Party supporters. So we arrive at the 2016 election cycle with tremendous anger and frustration from the GOP base.
In my mind this would lead to candidates that are not part of the Washington establishment, responsible to the voters, not the Chamber of Commerce, committed to smaller government and fiscal conservatives prepared to fight for these principles. How we take these criteria and wind up with Donald Trump as the leading candidate escapes me.
Trump is the ultimate insider. The fact that he has not been elected to office does not change this fact. His whole persona is currying favor with political insiders – large campaign contributions, support for the politicians’ causes, such as Planned Parent Hood, golf invitations among other tactics. The recent Boehner comments that he and Trump were golf and text buddies demonstrate beyond any doubt Trump’s status as an insider and part of the Washington establishment. The fact that he is the ultimate insider perceived as an outsider by the Trumpkins is proof of their cognitive dissonance.
I saw one interview with a Trump supporter who said he favored Trump because he was a fighter, he would fight for the little guy. How you can look at his record and believe Trump will fight for anything other than Trump? His record certainly doesn’t support his claim to be a champion of the little guy. You might ask the 300 American workers who applied for jobs at his Mar A Lago club in Florida but were passed over for foreign workers. You might ask the 5000 former students at Trump University who are the basis for the fraud case going forward in New York. There are two other federal cases pending on similar charges. You might ask Vera Coking who had to fight Trump’s use of eminent domain to take her house for a limo parking lot. This belief that Trump will fight for the little guy because he says he will build a huge wall on Mexico’s dime is a triumph of hope over experience.
This cognitive dissonance and hope over experience escape me but this is the logic behind his rabid support.
