Making the Best out of Trump Versus Clinton

It’s still true. Donald J. Trump really really happened.

Every morning faithful conservatives wake up and for a brief, fleeting moment believe life is normal. We are still in the throes of the primary. Conservatives still have a chance. And then, reality comes crashing down. Donald Trump, the ethics-free extraordinaire, is our party’s nominee. Oh, and our other choice is Hillary Clinton.

But, despondent and downtrodden is no way to go through life. On the bright side, the eye-poppingly disgusting comments from Trump’s former butler (#richpeopleproblems) about wanting to kill President Obama is the latest of your daily reminders why it was never a wise idea to hop aboard the Trump train.

(The ol’ quote about Trump hiring the “best people” never gets old, does it?)

Gallows humor. We’re going to need it this year.

Coming to terms with Trump doesn’t mean endorsing, enabling, or supporting his, or his surrogates, or former employees behavior. Like a wild dog off the leash, perhaps a treat could be thrown his way when he does something good, but defensive, cautious posture at a far away distance is best.

And while safely away from danger, some introspective thinking needs to be done. Conservatives should be honest with themselves about what went wrong. Without blaming it all on party leaders, or the poorly devised and accelerated primary process, or something beyond our control, although those are major contributing factors.

Something happened yesterday that clicked this into focus.

The Washington Post announced that Clinton has a plan, without any announced funding mechanism mind you, to provide “affordable child care,” which comes in addition to universal pre-school and paid family leave. (And, if Bernie Sanders is successful in pushing her further left, tuition-free college.)

Of course all of these policy ideas will require massive amounts of government intervention and intrusion into deeply personal areas of our lives. The policy ideas are wrong, but it is unwise to completely ignore the issues Clinton is raising.

Finding affordable child care is a very real problem working families face. In many areas of the country, child care is more expensive than college. There isn’t any financial aid available for child care, either. And, while it may be ideal for one parent to stay at home with the children, that isn’t an option for many for any number of reasons.

When I amicably asked on Twitter yesterday what Republicans would say to counter Clinton’s plan, I was met with derision by some friends, as if I were asking for my own special handout. If doing things such as ending the marriage penalty is a handout, however, sign me up.

(For what it’s worth, Mike Lee and Marco Rubio have worked on alternative reform ideas, which have been met with tepid reaction.)

But, this is the same old story.

Democrats announce a big, terrible idea that has great polling. Some Republican say, let’s do something half as bad so we don’t get beat. Conservatives say that’s unconstitutional. And Democrats win. That’s what happened with Obamacare. And immigration. And well, you name it.

Somewhere along the line, it seems many conservatives forgot how to just talk normally and help people.

“Because, Constitution! Because, principles! Because, free markets!” are ineffective and cheap arguments for or against anything. These arguments didn’t win in a GOP primary. Let that sink in.

Even self-evidently good policy requires salesmanship.

Enter Trump: Build the wall. Make America Great Again. With a no apologies, media accessible attitude.

Enter Clinton: Free stuff! Make history, elect me!

It’s sort of ironic. Trump is a remarkable salesman without any ideology. Clinton is a pretty ideologically driven candidate who lacks salesmanship. Judging from the GOP primary, in this sort of competition, the odds are in Trump’s favor.

Running on ideological will always differences be important. But, as Trump’s success demonstrates it ain’t everything. Ideology should be the underpinning of a campaign; not the alpha and the omega. Ideology should be compatible with solutions, but never divorced.

The presidential candidacies of Trump and Clinton may be a nightmare, but if it helps wake up conservatives from their tired old conversations perhaps it won’t be entirely traumatic. (For more from the author of “Making the Best out of Trump Versus Clinton” please click HERE)

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