Donald Trump: Ross Perot 2.0

Dale Matson

Although this blog is primarily dedicated to musings about the Sierra Nevada, from time to time I ponder political issues. For some time, I have been concerned about the political aspirations of Donald Trump. Currently Trump is leading in the polls by double digits over all of his numerous Republican rivals. There is great concern on the part of establishment Republicans that Trump may actually win the nomination, which would probably mean a loss to Hillary Clinton in the general election. What I suspect will happen is that Trump will not be the Republican nominee and may decide to become a third party candidate. If this happens, there will surely be enough votes taken from the Republican candidate that a Hillary Clinton victory would be assured. How ironic it would be if another Clinton won because of a split in the Republican vote.

It seems to me that there are parallels with the previous candidacy of Ross Perot who ran as a third party candidate for president in 1992. His participation in the presidential race took enough conservative votes to allow William Jefferson Clinton to defeat Bush for the presidency and made Bush, a good man, a one-term president.

Like Perot, Trump is a billionaire. Perot was a strong advocate for the U.S. Vietnam prisoners of war. Trump is a strong advocate for U.S. military veterans. Perot was critical of the congress and Trump is critical of the current congress. Perot was critical of the Bush leadership in U.S. in the Persian Gulf War that defeated Saddam Hussein and Trump was critical of the U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq that unseated Saddam Hussein and destabilized the Middle East. Perot opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Trump opposes the Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement.

Perot was once termed “A hand grenade with a bad haircut” by Rush Limbaugh. Much has been said about Trump’s hair and disposition also.

The main concern for me is that Trump, like Perot comes across as a demagogue and megalomaniac.  While candid he offers unfiltered comments that reveal simplistic thinking about complex issues. Does anyone believe he has the heart of a servant, which is the mark of a good leader?  Additionally Trump is an obvious misogynist based on what he has said about women. This gins up support for the female Hillary Clinton.

Perot was and “The Donald” is able to put a finger on the pulse of America and correctly diagnose the symptoms of the American people but Trump does not understand the underlying disease nor does he offer a viable treatment plan for the lingering malaise from the mismanagement of the Obama administration.

The Obama administration and mainstream media enablers have attempted to transform the traditional values of the American people. When President Obama talks about the values we hold as Americans, his values are not the same as the traditional values held by Americans. In attempting to make the U.S. into a borderless, genderless, multicultural country with a downsized role in world leadership, they have damaged the soul of this country. The important myths of “Manifest Destiny” and “American Exceptionalism” have been nearly extinguished.

I believe we need a Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz to represent our party and our country as President, not “The Donald".