Donald Trump is a bigger flip flopper than Mitt Romney ever was

[Abraham Reagan]

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/do-conservatives-owe-mitt-romney-an-apology/article/2568073

Great article that details how Donald Trump used to be further left than Mitt Romney ever was and yet almost no one calls Donald a RINO like they called Romney. Donald used to support universal healthcare, was extremely pro choice, and supported a wealth tax plan on the 1% that's even more left than Bernie Sanders' plan. Why do people take this guy seriously? Maybe it's because he's such a loud mouth that it intimidates people into believing his conservatism, while the quiet, graceful Mitt Romney had a harder time. No doubt, this stuff will be used against him once the primaries really heat up.

[ElectionsGuy]

This is one of the reasons The Donald will not make it far.

[Gass3268]

This is one of the reasons The Donald will not make it far.

Agreed, but he's gonna keep a more qualified candidate off the debate stage on August 6. Also while the universal healthcare and pro-choice support won't help, I think he could use the high tax on wealthy to his favor. As long as he mixes with the racist-tinged immigration remarks, could make himself quite the populist.

[Abraham Reagan]

This is one of the reasons The Donald will not make it far.

Agreed, but he's gonna keep a more qualified candidate off the debate stage on August 6. Also while the universal healthcare and pro-choice support won't help, I think he could use the high tax on wealthy to his favor. As long as he mixes with the racist-tinged immigration remarks, could make himself quite the populist.

Well certainly not with Republicans, which is kinda the party he's running to represent, so yeah....

[CatoMinor]

"Donald Trump is a bi..."

I was slightly let down when I saw what the full subject line was.

[dudeabides]

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/do-conservatives-owe-mitt-romney-an-apology/article/2568073

Great article that details how Donald Trump used to be further left than Mitt Romney ever was and yet almost no one calls Donald a RINO like they called Romney. Donald used to support universal healthcare, was extremely pro choice, and supported a wealth tax plan on the 1% that's even more left than Bernie Sanders' plan. Why do people take this guy seriously? Maybe it's because he's such a loud mouth that it intimidates people into believing his conservatism, while the quiet, graceful Mitt Romney had a harder time. No doubt, this stuff will be used against him once the primaries really heat up.

Thank you for posting, your one smart person!

Trump is worse than a RINO, he's a total fraud who hates this country.

[Publius]

And let's not forget that as recently as 2010 he was donating to Democratic campaigns, including those of Anthony Weiner, Chuck Schumer, and Harry Reid. Further, he was a prominent supporter of Hillary Clinton. As late as 2012, he called her a "terrific woman" and noted he liked her husband as well. He once described Jeb Bush, the favorite for the Republican nomination, as "a good man," "bright, tough and principled," and "exactly the kind of political leader this country needs now and will very much need in the future." Now he's making the case that Bush is "pathetic."

Romney got slammed for this stuff! Where's the outrage from the right?

[Likely Voter]

if there ever was a RINO it is Trump. But isn't that why he already has big negatives. And polls show he has a low ceiling like the new Reuters 3 way between him Rubio and Bush. But does that matter for the 10-20% that like what Trump is selling, ie all of our problems are because of the Mexicans, Saudis, Chinese, etc. There is a set of GOP voters that love what he says and I bet a lot of them dont care that he was pro choice or whatever back in 1999.

[Vega]

He was also a Democrat for 8 years, and donated a substantial amount of money to Hillary Clinton.

How awkward is that?

[Clark Kent]

Trump is a RINO, a racist butthole, a liberal, and quite possibly a Democratic mole.

[PJ]

People who support Trump probably aren't the kind of people that do even a minimal amount of research into candidates in the first place.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

People who support Trump probably aren't the kind of people that do even a minimal amount of research into candidates in the first place.

If most people did much research into candidate's positions on the issues, the Republican party would be totally hosed.

[Mr. Morden]

The conservatism of the Republican base isn't so much an ideology as it is a state of mind.  Bitterness, confusion, hatred of the world around you; as long as you emanate these core feelings you will be considered one of the tribe.

I might not put it in quite those terms, but I agree with the sentiment.  For many voters, "conservatism" is measured by temperament rather than policy positions.  See Matt Lewis on that here:

http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/35784?in=39:45&out=40:40

[Mr. Morden]

http://www.epicjourney2008.com/2015/07/trump-v-trump.html

[Likely Voter]

I actually watched the whole Trump Phoenix speech. It was another random assortment of bluster and platitudes but it was clear that he is more playing conservatives than being one of them. There were a few points in the speech where he seemed to have lost the crowd. After getting cheers for denouncing Obamacare and calling for repeal he then noted how 'we need to take care of people' and then even chastised the crowd saying something 'sorry conservatives, we need to take care of people'. He also lost the crowd at one point when he said he was for more legal immigration (I dont think he understands the nativist wing dont like any immigration or immigrants).

And there was another point when he was talking about how bad Hillary was and some guy started yelling out "Dont forget Benghazi" and so Trump said "yeah, Benghazi" but then didn't say anything about Benghazi, probably because he really didn't know what to say. And it's not like he didnt have a problem going off script, I dont think there was one to begin with and he talked about all sorts of things including his dating life.

After a week or so he is going to need some new material, so I expect he will learn what to say about Benghazi and other conservative conspiracy theories but for now watching his speech and the crowd he almost seems like a guy riding a bull he doesn't fully control.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

All of the Bush hacks seem genuinely afraid of Trump. All the more reason to support The Donald.

[dudeabides]

All of the Bush hacks seem genuinely afraid of Trump. All the more reason to support The Donald.

Donald Trump:
14% wealth tax
socialized medicine
protective tariffs
4 bankruptcies
bailouts
donated to Hillary Clinton
pro-choice in 1999/2000
2 wives from communist countries

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

All of the Bush hacks seem genuinely afraid of Trump. All the more reason to support The Donald.

Donald Trump:
14% wealth tax
socialized medicine
protective tariffs
4 bankruptcies
bailouts
donated to Hillary Clinton
pro-choice in 1999/2000
2 wives from communist countries

Jeb Bush loves me, this I know, because his Twitter tells me so...

[Vega]

Donald Trump:
14% wealth tax
socialized medicine
protective tariffs
4 bankruptcies
bailouts
donated to Hillary Clinton
pro-choice in 1999/2000
2 wives from communist countries

Not only is that completely irrelevant, it's extremely inaccurate.

[Lief 🗽]

Wow, looks like the Jeb fanboys are getting desperate. Real, hard-working Americans support Donald Trump because he's actually talking about the issues, instead of dredging up decades old personal attacks invented by the liberal media. I'm sorry that Jeb has nothing going for him other than his ability to whore himself out to corporate Wall Street donors (in exchange for promises of all manner of amnesty and guest worker programs when he is elected, no doubt), but these personal attacks on Donald Trump and especially his family are disgusting and embarrassing. I would say that you folks should be ashamed, but I doubt anyone morally depraved enough to publicly support Jeb Bush is capable of feeling shame.

[Abraham Reagan]

Wow, looks like the Jeb fanboys are getting desperate. Real, hard-working Americans support Donald Trump because he's actually talking about the issues, instead of dredging up decades old personal attacks invented by the liberal media. I'm sorry that Jeb has nothing going for him other than his ability to whore himself out to corporate Wall Street donors (in exchange for promises of all manner of amnesty and guest worker programs when he is elected, no doubt), but these personal attacks on Donald Trump and especially his family are disgusting and embarrassing. I would say that you folks should be ashamed, but I doubt anyone morally depraved enough to publicly support Jeb Bush is capable of feeling shame.

I'm not getting desperate, and I made no personal attacks on Donald or his family. I'm simply wondering why there is this massive discrepancy between the way people treated Mitt Romney for his flip flops and the way Donald's flops are seemingly being ignored, even though his flops are far bigger in terms of change of beliefs. BTW, it's not exactly lies invented by the media when it's Donald's own words.

[Maxwell]

I love Lief 4 Trump.

[dudeabides]

Wow, looks like the Jeb fanboys are getting desperate. Real, hard-working Americans support Donald Trump because he's actually talking about the issues, instead of dredging up decades old personal attacks invented by the liberal media. I'm sorry that Jeb has nothing going for him other than his ability to whore himself out to corporate Wall Street donors (in exchange for promises of all manner of amnesty and guest worker programs when he is elected, no doubt), but these personal attacks on Donald Trump and especially his family are disgusting and embarrassing. I would say that you folks should be ashamed, but I doubt anyone morally depraved enough to publicly support Jeb Bush is capable of feeling shame.

Donald Trump is playing the same game Barack Obama played in 2008 and 2012. He is playing on people's fears as opposed to appealing to their hopes. Donald Trump is only successful because of crony capitalism. He relied on bankruptcy laws, corporate welfare, and bailouts to get him to where he is today. His platform is a protectionist platform that is anti-immigrant. Trump loves big government and always has. He proposed a massive wealth tax and socialized medicine back in 1999/2000. The reason Wall Street hasn't embraced him is because he really isn't very bright, just lucky. Now, as far as Jeb Bush's immigration position, he supports a pathway to legalized status, that is not amnesty. I happen to agree with that position because it's the only position that relies on the rule of law, but doesn't spend BILLIONS sending people home. Donald Trump has no position, he just goes on racist rants. The liberal media's failure is that they call this fraud a conservative when really he is very far left. Luckily, the more voters hear from Donald Trump, the less they will like him. Already, he has gone from 3rd to 7th in Iowa.

Donald Trump:
14% wealth tax
socialized medicine
protective tariffs
4 bankruptcies
bailouts
donated to Hillary Clinton
pro-choice in 1999/2000
2 wives from communist countries

Not only is that completely irrelevant, it's extremely inaccurate.

Do you think it's relevant for Trump to attack Governor Bush's wife, to refer to Sen. Marco Rubio as an "over rated person", and to name call conservative commentators George Will & Charles Krauthammer?

[Beet]

Because even AFTER Romney 'flip flopped' he still came across as an insincere, smarmy businessman in a suit. Trump on the other hand is really saying things that, from the perspective of racist conservatives, is what they really want to hear, particularly as he's seen to be standing up to the 'liberal media' and 'political correctness'. They couldn't care if he was a communist last year. He's throwing real red meat at them (which Romney never did) and after this summer's explosion of social liberalism they're a hungry pack of mangy, starving dogs ready to eat it up.

[Lief 🗽]

Look, guy, I'm sorry that you care more about the feelings of beltway hacks like Jonah Goldberg and Charles Krauthammer than you do about the well-being of working Americans who are desperately crying out for a champion, who understands them and their issues, the working Americans who can't write a $5 million check to Jeb Bush's Super PAC every time they need something. These people have no voice, and Donald Trump is finally, FINALLY giving them one. Donald Trump is the great American success story. He worked hard, got great grades, and then he went out and made a fortune, a tremendous fortune, a fortune that bozos like you probably won't even be able to understand when he releases his disclosures. Unlike Bush, who is an unemployed loser, let's be frank, Donald Trump isn't beholden to anyone. He's not going to open the borders and let in another forty million illegals like Jeb's idiot brother did, just because the Wall Street fatcats told him to.

Donald Trump believes in what he believes in. Sometimes his opinions change. Who cares? At least he has his own opinions, unlike Jeb Bush, who just does what his donors tell him to do. Donald Trump's not using donors. He doesn't care about donors. He's really rich.