As Puerto Ricans Call for Independence Their Dreams Are Blocked By Their Chief...
President Trump Closes the Overton Window
The Fake Stream Media’s Pervasive Assault on Black America
Mamdani: More Continuation Than Aberration for New York
President Trump Is Bringing the Spirit of Sports Back to America
Money, Power and Transgender Ideology
Cleaning Up the Swamp Is a Full-Time Job for Trump
Iran's Mullahs Staring Into the Abyss
The Party of Losers Is Not Funny
The Enduring Lie of Socialism
DOJ: Minnesota Duo Orchestrated Kidnappings, Bombings in Africa
Michigan Woman Indicted for Smuggling Illegal Aliens, Children, Across the Northern Border
Tennessee Joins 25-State Coalition Defending Second Amendment Rights for Travelers
DOD Calls Out 'Highly Provocative' Move by Venezuela
Emmer Slams Walz Over Deadly Minnesota Church Shooting, Calls for Repeal of Trans...
OPINION

Who Is The Real Conservative?

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.

When I hear conservatives bashing Donald Trump, I sometimes wonder: Are these the same people who enthusiastically endorsed John McCain and Mitt Romney for president? Are these the same people who supported George W. Bush when he pushed Medicare D and a $150 billion stimulus package through Congress?

Advertisement

“Trump is not a real conservative,” they say. Really? Let’s go down the list: He favors lower taxes, less regulation, a robust military, traditional marriage, local education, gun ownership, a balanced budget, protection of the unborn, the elimination of Obamacare, a crackdown on illegal immigration, an America-first foreign policy, respect for the police, gratitude to our military veterans, and the public celebration of Christianity. Sounds awfully conservative to me.

To be sure, Trump also champions some form of universal healthcare and the welfare state. But these are two exceptions in an otherwise straightforward conservative resume. More importantly, every Republican candidate in recent memory – to my utter dismay – has favored leaving the welfare state almost entirely intact. How exactly is Trump different than anyone else in this regard?

Right-wing media outlets often tout Ted Cruz as a principled conservative, but – newsflash – he too favors preserving most of the welfare state. Certainly no one has heard him campaign against it.

And to those who swear to Cruz’s conservative credentials, I ask you further: Does a conservative employ children to laugh at another candidate in a television commercial? Does a conservative side with radical leftists when they violently shut down a Republican rally? Does a conservative lie about another candidate’s sister to score political points? Does a conservative wax ambivalent when asked about torturing terrorists? Does a conservative call for the destruction of another man’s life because he briefly pulled a reporter away from his boss (when video footage clearly shows the reporter unfazed by the incident)?

Advertisement

Even when I am inclined to side with Cruz, I wind up disagreeing with him. For example, a recent pro-Cruz Super PAC ad questioned whether Melania Trump, who formerly posed nude for magazine photo shoots, was fit to be our next first lady. A true conservative appalled at the moral degeneration of American society would have applauded such an ad. Cruz denounced it.

And that leads me to my final point: Cruz is a politician. Simply out, there’s something fake about him. His cadences, his overly long dramatic pauses – they’re all affected. Trump nailed this point months ago when he said Cruz always talks as if he were debating. In other words, he never actually speaks like a normal person (even when he tries to appear “folksy” by wearing jeans on the campaign trail, which apparently is very presidential behavior).

So I ask my fellow conservatives: Do we really want to vote another politician into office? Someone who pretends to be a conservative purist but is anything but? Someone who claims to be a genuine man of the people but can’t utter a natural-sounding sentence?

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement