I just thought of something a little bit funny. Yeah, I know, most of my brain cells do work on the side of humorous invention but this is a little different. All of the candidates have been financed by everyone but themselves. They eat, drink, travel, campaign, stay at hotels and pretty much live on someone else's dime. If they lose, all of the money spent will be of no avail and to them it is essentially wasted money. Trump initially loaned himself 17.1 million dollars and has also spent about 10 million of his own money other than that initial loan. Every dime he has spent campaigning is tax deductible is it not? Win or lose, Trump still comes out pretty squeaky clean financially. It's pretty shrewd business but that's the kind of mentality I want in a president. I like someone who hesitates to spend my money but if it has to go, at least I will see some kind of return on it, unlike the other guys like Bush who spent a couple of hundred million of someone else's cash and didn't have enough left to fry up a bunch of catfish for his backers.
Those are very good points, @Bobby Cole. I don't know, but rather expect that as president, Trump will not be everything I'd like to have in a president, that he may be rather heavy handed, requiring the legislative branch to stand up for their own powers as defined by the constitution, which is not something that we've seen much of over the past seven years. I also suspect that we may find that, as president, Trump will not be as entertaining as he has been as a candidate, but that he will get down to business, which is something he understands very well. His positions on the 2nd Amendment and his viewpoints on securing our borders are issues he has been pretty consistent on for at least the last fifteen or sixteen years, so I don't expect to see the push for gun confiscations that we've seen under the current administration, and I do expect more common sense border policies, although I doubt that he will lock down the border to the extent that the open borders crowd believes that he will. Still, I expect improvements in these areas, as far as the things that I would be looking for, anyhow. Although he claims to be pro-life at this time, he has wavered in this position and, even now, he feels the need to find good things to say about Planned Parenthood, so I don't know what to expect from him as far as abortion is concerned. On the other hand, during the 1999 interview, when he stated his position as pro-choice, he appeared to show genuine disgust for abortion, so a genuine change in positions would not be unheard of over a period of sixteen or seventeen years. Nevertheless, no Republican has made a serious attempt to reverse Roe versus Wade once elected to office anyhow, nor would I expect any of the others to do so. While I am strongly pro-life, the fact that we don't have any other likely alternatives makes this somewhat of a non-issue as far as the 2016 campaign is concerned. He has been a strong advocate for his own businesses during his career, willing to take chances in the short-term but not in the long-run, so I would expect that, as president, he would view his job similarly, and be a firm defender of United States' interests. That, combined with a firm understanding of economic and trade issues should result in a significant improvement in our economic positions. Although he is running as a Republican, his experience with the Republican Party has been such that I doubt that he will feel a strong loyalty to any particular political party, but will do what he thinks is the best thing to do regardless of party pressures. This, I expect, may be uncomfortable at times, but may prove to be effective.
Trump has also had people who willingly donated to his campaign although I don't think he asked them to do so. If he wins these people will probably feel that they made a !00% "profit" on their contributions.
Could anyone we elected as President be everything we would like them to be? Not in my opinion, right now I'm thinking more along the line of who is the best Candidate to help solve some of the serious problems here in America and within our Government, etc. Of all the Candidates I personally believe Trump is the best man for that job. He will not do the politically correct thing if he believes it is not the best thing. He will not let anyone pull his strings or buy him. He will not cater to just "one class" of people. And he will not back down against our enemies if he believes they are a threat to us. I believe he can help rebuilt America depending on how much our other Government Officials will work with him. He can't solve everything that is wrong, no man can, but I believe he can accomplish more good than any of the other Candidates running...especially if the House and Senate and others in our Government work together as a team to better America. On the abortion stance and Planned Parenthood I believe he might just leave that to the individual states. As a Christian I would like to see America rebuild morally too...but we have to start somewhere with rebuilding what is wrong in America and I believe Trump will be the man to take that first step towards a better America.
Agreed that there needs to be a starting point... problem with that is (as least in my mind) that it would be nearly impossible to reverse some of the moral damage that the current administration has already inflicted. The things passed into law that are directly against scripture. The moral decay. You can prevent more damage, but wouldn't it be very difficult to just "reverse" the immoral things that have already been sanctioned?
Just waxing the humor by which some elections are won. John Kennedy was young, handsome and Catholic which was three major points by which his election was won. One other thing that helped was his wife, Jackie. The proof that it wasn't only the men who liked her looks but the hundred of thousands of women who suddenly adopted a new hair style patterned after Jackie's. One of Marco Rubio's assets is that he is handsome, which is already touting a hit with the ladies, and he is presidential looking which hits home with both sexes. To me, opening a can of worms sometimes opens up a dialog on the important things by which we can properly come to an honest conclusion to any subject particularly in the political agendas set by the candidates themselves.
Mari, I don't believe that Trump will concentrate on moral issues although I do believe if something comes up that he can do something about in that area I think he will. I believe his main concentration will be on the economy and jobs, immigration issues including the border problems, ISIS and terrorism and how we can keep America safe, and other problems not related to moral issues. Trump will stick to what he knows best and the areas he feels are most important in bettering America. Moral issues for the most part I believe he will leave up to the God he believes in unless like I said earlier something comes up in this area that he feels he can change for the better.
I'm glad Rubio got second place over Cruz for the Nevada's Caucus. I just don't trust Cruz. Why didn't he fire the head man of his campaign staff when dirty politics first happened in Iowa? He did nothing so it happened again in Nevada. He finally fired him after Rubio told him to (since it was Rubio whom they doctored a video of to smear him this time). Regarding the candidates stand on abortion. Both Clinton and Sanders are Pro Choice all the way. I'm unclear as to Rubio's stand prior to 20 weeks but he's definitely pro-life after 20 weeks (as of 2013 see source below in post#196). Trump is Pro-life all the way and will only defund Planned Parenthood IF they include abortions…but all other services to women are fine. Chris Matthews made an observation of the speeches at the end of the Nevada caucus last night that I concur with. He said that Cruz seriously spoke as if he was sitting behind his desk saying I'm going to pass this bill and that bill…boring compared to Trump. Trump on the other hand was fun and engaging. He talked about America, making it great, about the people of America being great, about how much he loves them all no matter what. He praised his two sons who flanked him for their support and what a great job they're doing. That's why Trump is doing so well. Trump even got 45% of the Hispanic vote.
Trumps and Cruz's speeches after the Nevada caucus (what is that guy in the plaid suit(?)shirt(?) all about?...sorry, i know, it's not about fashion haha):
Yes... I didn't mean that he'd concentrate on them.. just that it would be hard for anyone to reverse some of the damage that's been done recently. I'd "name names" and particular issues, but I have a feeling it wouldn't be very wise to do that here. Also some of our constitutional rights that have been totally destroyed over the last 8 years.
No Crissy. Abortions happen during any tri-semester unfortunately. Hillary and Sanders approve of abortion right up to birth. As Carly Fiorina said, "Hillary believes it's not a human life until it leaves the hospital.
Hmmmm.... Rubio is pro-life all the way, is he not? He thinks Roe v. Wade needs to be overturned... I've heard nothing of the contrary, so... is there confirmation documentation for the "up to 5 months?"
I have never heard of that unless it may cause death to the mother. Isn't the law 16 weeks max I think? It's been awhile since I looked but I know it's not even 5 months unless it's changed recently.