I invited Scott to express his opinion for this post;
Mike, speaking as a committee person and someone who has been part of the local committee leadership for years, I find Charlie's announcement troubling and yes,hypocritical. We have for year been told, and I myself have stressed the message that our responsibility is to defeat the Democrats. Many of us have supported Charlie even though over the years, his positions and rhetoric have been counter to basic Republican tenets. Now Charlie finds Trump's comments as something he cannot support. Fine! So the old adage of what's good for the goose is good for the gander comes to mind. Finally, with this development, how can I or any other Republican leader ask our fellow activists to do for Charlie what he won't do for Donald. I know I won't. Will this prevent a Dent victory this fall, doubt it. But like Charlie, I will stand by my own principles and not vote for Dent or his opponent. I will vote to defeat Hillary. Scott Armstrong
For the last decade, except for briefly exploring the possibility of running as an outsider Republican for state representative this past winter, I have described myself as an independent. I ran for office twice as an independent. I believe that the straight party lever, which is now a button, should not exist. In my mind there is nothing at all wrong with a Republican not supporting Trump, or a Democrat not supporting Clinton. I understand that it is an unusual position for an elected official to take, who for the most part owe their success to party politics. So, for me there are no rino's, only independently thinking Republicans.
I will not vote for Dent...a first for me. If he thinks turning the Supreme Court over to Hillary is good for America,fine. I don't. Perhaps Charlie should spend more time worrying about what drugs baseball players put in their body. After all, he believes women can do whatever they want with what is in their bodies....even if it is their baby.
ReplyDeleteBut Trump isn't good for the goose. That's the thing. He's an out of control demagogue who is dangerous for this country and the world.
ReplyDeleteWhy on earth any Republican thinks Trump is good for their party is beyond me. He will single handedly destroy the Republican party if he wins. He has already demonstrated major flaws with our primary system in this country - it allows fringe candidates to overtake more reasonable and centrist choices. For Republicans, it is a better long term strategy to let Hillary win this year and wait to challenge here in 2020 with a more sane candidate. I realize the SC is a big deal, but that's not the only thing hanging in the balance here.
There are good, principled reasons to reject Trump's candidacy. Aside from his outrageous and offensive stream of blustering comments, a win for Trump means an economic disaster. We cannot afford a Trump presidency.
Mr Dent is being quite foolish. You can’t really be Never Trump and Never Hillary. One of the two will be the next President of the United States. And it's quite clear that Donald Trump is the more anti-establishment and conservative choice.
ReplyDeleteIf Dent is trying to play this cutesy game–I’m being true to some principles that allows me to do things that throw the election to Hillary Clinton, the fact is Congressman, you’re going to bear responsibility for what she does.
Mr Dent doesn't realize that HE is part of the problem in Washington. Now him saying that he's not voting for Trump because his of "principles" (more like because of his over-inflated pride) will only lead to more of the same divisive rhetoric as what we hear now from Obama, which will lead to more discord, which will lead to more dead cops, more economic stagnation, more terrorism .. essentially more of what we have now. If he thinks that sitting on his ass is going to make a difference, then Mr. Dent, as a fellow William Allen High School graduate, Sir, you're sitting on your brains instead of using them.
ReplyDeleteI was skeptical about Trump at the beginning - TV Star, Billionaire developer, but what about governing? But he hit several key issues (where I could compare with the other Candidates).
But the biggest thing was that he didn't care to play by the rules. The GOP has delivered less than nothing for the United States, even after winning control of Congress after the 2010 (House) and 2014 (Senate) elections. Paul Ryan's Omnibus betrayal was the last straw. I said at the time Trump was likely going to be the nominee because of the anger and Trump was the only one who you could trust to respond.
The reality is that none of the candidates that ran for the GOP nomination in the beginning, except for Mike Huckabee I could support. But he dropped out early in the process, and the more I heard what Trump was offering the people, the more I could support him.
Trump has no guile. I actually dislike his grating New Yorker manner. But I find the total package more than sufficient to support him, and I expect him to push almost all of what he wants to do through Congress, at least in effect if not in detail.
This election is all about the repudiation of the status quo. Both the Republicans and Democrats have run this country in to the ground for their own benefit - power / control / money.
ReplyDeleteSo many issues have not been addressed - both left and right - are causing this situation. To make matters worse, the two parties have setup a system that is almost impossible to change. While I disagree with BLM, and $15/hr min wage, these groups are but a small representation of people who have been continually 'put off'. The answer to these folks is: "well you have to run for office, get elected, and change the system." What a crock of BS - the 'system' has been setup for insiders. All us regular citizens are 'outsiders'.
Trump represents the silent majority. It seems 'regular', working class folks have no say, no power. Allentown is an example. It has been invaded, destroyed, and the invaders are rewarded with entitlements - they display no gratitude. Same with jobs, immigration, zero interest paid on savings, inflation, the list goes on and on.
There is a big push, from both parties and the MSM to discredit Trump. This is because he's an outsider, an independent thinker, a doer, and this threatens their status quo rule over our country.
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ReplyDeletedoug@9:36,, glad to host your opinion and comment, but not links. i'm interested in the mentality of partisanship, but not the specific reasons why someone supports one candidate or another.
ReplyDeleteIf Mr. Dent's conscience prevents him from supporting his party's duly elected Presidential candidate, it is only fair that he return campaign contributions entrusted to him by loyal Republicans who reasonably assumed that he too was a party loyalist.
ReplyDeleteI would suspect that if we press Congressman Dent on this point it will bring him to heel until we can elect a more suitable GOP representative.
Monkeymomma: how can a 'fringe candidate' get more votes in the primaries than anybody in history....even 'herstory'?
ReplyDeleteTrump would have been my 14th or so candidate among the bunch, but it is what it is.
Jamie: I get some of the negative reaction to Huckabee, but I don't get the visceral negativity. He's a good man with decent policy instincts.
also...I guess pure Charlie could never have supported Teddy Roosevelt either. Not to compare Trump and Teddy, but TR was surely the Trump of his day...hence a run on his own party. I have some issues with TR but surely he loved his county...more than we can say about Obama.
ReplyDeleteMM,
ReplyDeleteOn my vote, I will be voting for the infamous not listed above as was my past vote too!!!!!
I just saw Mr Dent on television. When interviewed he was very upset about Trump not supporting some of his congressional friends; and then he cited some of the insignificant campaign issues that Hillary Clinton was raising as reasons for him not supporting Trump.
ReplyDeleteWhat Mr Dent brushed off were the major issues why he should support Trump, in particular the fact that if Hillary Clinton was elected that she would appoint very liberal supreme court justices; justices that would affect the lives of my 15-year old daughters' grandchildren.
But Dent appears to be very wrapped up in small-ball congressional issues and trivialities about why he's not supporting Trump. This is all bullshit by him and his RINO friends because Trump doesn't support his globalist agenda; the same as the Bushes and Romney. They just see the the fact that Jeb Bush or one of the traditional establishment Republicans didn't get the nomination and their childish actions and pouting now may suit their temperament. However they miss the big picture due to their childish tantrum and stupidity.
Vote this jackass out of office this fall.