Ronald Reagan talked about the power of ideas; the individual’s "right to reach as far and as high" as his or her talents would permit; the free market as an engine for progress; and “the value of work, of family, of religion, and of the love of freedom that God places in each of us.” He called America “a city of hope in a land that is free.”
Reagan was strong, direct, principled, funny, charming, and good.
“In the spirit of Jefferson,” Reagan declared in his last State of the Union Address to Congress, “let us affirm that… there are no Republicans, no Democrats—just Americans.” He said that Americans always embrace the future—Americans like “the idea of it, the hope of it.” Reagan stated that others feared trade, but Americans saw “opportunities for creating new wealth.” “Where others seek to throw up barriers, we seek to bring them down. Where others take counsel of their fears, we follow our hopes.”
We know that Trump is no Reagan—far from it. And, we’re constantly reminded of Trump’s missteps and offenses by the mainstream media and Hollywood elites. However, let’s not forget that Hillary is an entitled, corrupt, reprobate who has spent decades punishing and intimidating anyone who stood in her way.
She’s deplorable. He’s deplorable. They make up their own “basket of deplorables.”
Like many conservatives, I cannot grasp how the Republican Establishment allowed a disgrace, an Anti-Reagan, to become its nominee for President. The state of today’s GOP would have been unimaginable to President Reagan. But this begs the question, where are the NeverHillary progressives? Who on the Left has the courage to declare Hillary unacceptable? Where is the Left’s Erick Erickson?
Donald Trump is unprepared in ways unlike any major candidate for President in our nation’s history. He is uniquely unqualified. However, it’s equally true that Hillary Clinton is uniquely unqualified to be President. Hillary is a smear-artist, a dirt digger. She’ll do whatever it takes to maintain her grip on power. She has bullied and threatened her way to the top. Her scandals go back forty years—from Whitewater to Benghazi.
In public life, Hillary has purposely mishandled classified information putting American security at risk. She’s lied about her private email server. Hillary’s woeful tenure as Secretary of State gave rise to ISIS, human tragedy in Syria, and chaos in Libya. Her “Russian reset” was a disaster. Hillary’s failed leadership cost four Americans their lives in Benghazi. Her legacy as Secretary of State is a worldwide refugee crisis.
Trump is no different in kind than Barack Obama. In fact, Trump is a kind of photo-negative of Obama. Both are strongmen, narcissists, willing to do whatever it takes to get their way. For many Trump partisans, this election is about having their own strongman. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, Trump said “I” over 80 times, but not one word about the sanctity of human life, religious liberty, strong families, or limited government.
For his hardcore followers, what makes Trump so appealing is the absolute failure of the political class. Trump’s followers want to smash the system and its elites. However, we must not ignore his contribution to America’s moral decay and disunity. Trump pollutes our national discourse by confusing vulgarity for standing up to political correctness. He engages in all manner of conspiracy, dishonesty, and misogyny. Trump has revealed an alarming lack of policy knowledge and intellectual curiosity.
George Will wrote in National Review, “Pessimism need not breed fatalism or passivity. It can define an agenda of regeneration, but only by being clear-eyed about the extent of degeneration.... Conservatism’s recovery … will require facing unflattering facts about a country that currently is indifferent to its founding.”
Some see a vote for Trump as a prudential political decision. He’s not Hillary Clinton. Some see a vote for Hillary as a “at least, she can be trusted with the nuclear codes” lesser-of-two-evil choice.
Hillary Clinton is criminal, corrupt, entitled—she is uniquely unqualified to be President of the United States. Trump is narcissistic, unprincipled, absurd—he is uniquely unqualified to be President of the United States. George Will is half right when he says the “rise of Donald Trump reflects America’s decay.” So does Hillary’s ascendancy to the heights of American politics.
America is greater without him, and we’re stronger together without her. After November 8 we will begin picking up the pieces. For those of us who support liberty we will oppose President Hillary Clinton (Trump never had any real chance of being elected). Hillary’s many scandals will be a persistent weight around her presidency. She’ll be weak and ineffective. President Hillary’s greatest achievement will be conservative majorities in Congress after the 2018 midterms and a principled conservative in the White House after 2020. America can be “a city of hope in a land that is free” again if we trust everyday Americans over the Washington, Hollywood, and media elites.