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Donald Trump: Pro & Con

Posted November 4th, 2016 at 3:38 pm (UTC-4)
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Donald Trump and his supporters say he is the only candidate able to change a broken political system in Washington and make it work for the American people.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a campaign event in Miami, Florida U.S. November 2, 2016. (Reuters)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a campaign event in Miami, Florida U.S. November 2, 2016. (Reuters)

He promises to cut taxes across the board; renegotiate trade deals to make them more favorable for the United States; create 25-million new jobs over the next 10 years; and grow the U.S. economy by an average of 3.5 percent per year.

Trump vows to abolish Obamacare and replace it with health savings accounts; increase the size of the U.S. military; end the strategy of nation-building and regime change and militarily crush the Islamic State.

And then there’s the “impenetrable” wall along the U.S. southern border Trump says he will build, and make Mexico pay for it to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

Critics say Trump is a narcissistic, misogynist demagogue whose admiration of Vladimir Putin is disquieting, if not disqualifying.

With fewer than 100 hours to go before polls open on Tuesday, can Donald Trump pull off one of the most improbable victories in American political history?

Closing Argument: Vote Trump

Newt Gingrich – U.S. News & World Report

No candidate in recent memory has had more drive, more courage or more desire to force real change on Washington than Donald Trump. And no candidate in American history has so clearly illustrated the need for real change as his opponent.

Hillary (Clinton)’s corruption is unprecedented. But it is also representative of a political class in which a less grotesque but equally dangerous corruption has become widespread. In which the buying and selling of favors is routine, and punishment against critics can be crushing.

To take on the corruption in Washington will be a monumental challenge….Donald Trump is the only presidential nominee in decades who is brave enough and outside the system enough to take on that monumental task.

Former Bush Aide: 7 Stages of Grief Lead to Clinton

John Stubbs – USA Today

Republican presidential Candidate Donald Trump gives his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana a kiss as they shake hands after Pence's acceptance speech during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (AP)

Republican presidential Candidate Donald Trump gives his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana a kiss as they shake hands after Pence’s acceptance speech during the third day session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (AP)

Americans of all political stripes know a lot about Clinton. Much of what they know is unpleasant, and there are lots of mind-boggling, unnecessary, unforced errors. She fails to embrace the transparency her public life demands, and her efforts to maintain a private life are often the core of the problem….

This is a serious job, and Trump is not a serious man. It’s telling the number of serious Republicans who cannot support Trump….

Clinton will not solve all of our problems, but she will not risk Armageddon either. She will be a better president than Trump.

America: It’s Our Moment to get Our Groove Back

Monica Crowley – The Washington Times

The Founders vested the people with the power to change our government and the direction of the nation because they feared that one day, the system would be corrupted….That day has arrived…

The American people know it, too. This is why this is a change election. Polls continually show that 70 percent of the American people believe the country is on the wrong track. That deep and widespread sentiment advantages the change candidate, Donald Trump….

Mr. Trump has something else going for him, an intangible but incredibly powerful weapon: his supporters have an abiding emotional investment in him.

America and the Abyss

Andrew Sullivan – New York Magazine

A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up a sign referring to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a Trump campaign rally at Bayfront Park Amphitheater, Nov. 2, 2016, in Miami. (AP)

A supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds up a sign referring to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a Trump campaign rally at Bayfront Park Amphitheater, Nov. 2, 2016, in Miami. (AP)

This is what we now know. Donald Trump is the first candidate for president who seems to have little understanding of or reverence for constitutional democracy and presents himself as a future strongman.

He has no concept of a non-zero-sum engagement, in which a deal can be beneficial for both sides. A win-win scenario is intolerable to him, because mastery of others is the only moment when he is psychically at peace. (This is one reason why he cannot understand the entire idea of free trade or, indeed, NATO, or the separation of powers.)…

if Trump wins, he will almost certainly bring with him the House, the Senate, and the Supreme Court. A President Clinton will be checked and balanced. A President Trump will be pushing through wide-open doors. Who can temper or stop him then?

I’m a Woman, I’m Voting for Trump, and it Wasn’t Even a Close Call

Katelyn Crist – The Federalist

What matters to me are not appeals to identity politics and making history, but the platforms on which each candidate stands. Trump’s policies and proposals are more in line with what’s good for my family and country, while Clinton’s pose a threat to our individual liberty and welfare in just about every sphere, particularly health care….

This is the reality for my family of seven: We’re a middle-class family with growing children, and when I get notifications detailing how much my health-care deductibles are going to go up and benefits I depended on to keep health-care affordable being eradicated in 2017, I immediately ask: how on earth are we going to pay for a major illness or a hospitalization?

Trump Is an Existential Threat

Charles Blow – The New York Times

I think of the family values voters on the right…Although I might have vigorously disagreed with their positions and their inherent myopic anachronism, at least I could say that they were as principled in their adherence to their positions as I was in opposition to them. But then, again, I hit Donald Trump, who is dragging traditional conservative paternalism into the muck of perversion, who brags about sexually assaulting women, who makes fun of the disabled, who savors a lust for vengeance, who says he has never needed to seek forgiveness, even from God. Again, are you kidding?…

On Election Day, America faces a choice, and it’s not a tough one, but a stark one. It is the difference between tolerance and intolerance. It is the difference between respect and disrespect. It is the difference between a politician with some flaws and a flaw threatening our politics.

People cheer as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Nov. 3, 2016, Selma, N.C. (AP)

People cheer as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Nov. 3, 2016, Selma, N.C. (AP)

At Home in a Trump Crowd

Ellie Mercer – The Washington Times

I never imagined in my lifetime I would experience an election in which the stakes would be so high, or one in which American liberties and freedoms, those intended by our forefathers, would be threatened. So when I learned that Donald Trump planned to host a rally in Virginia and was not, in fact, throwing in the towel, I breathed a sigh of relief. However, the euphoric moment faded as I realized that once again, I had been blindsided by the liberal media. And even more infuriating, I knew all too well that the unethical reports aired by the networks wouldn’t even warrant a slap on the wrist, just as the candidate for whom they go to any lengths to protect is immune to consequences.

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