2015-08-13 – You may think that Donald Trump is a loudmouth. You may think that Donald Trump is dangerous. You may think that Donald Trump is delusional. But he is none of these (well, he may be delusional about his hair, but that’s not important). The other candidates for the Republican nomination are loudmouthed, dangerous, and delusional.
Donald Trump is not.
Donald Trump is a wheeler dealer (WD). Wheeling and dealing is an important characteristic in a politician. The whole point of politics is to wheel and deal. The whole point of politics, at least in a democracy, is to find solutions to shared problems. My priorities are inevitably different from your priorities, but if we negotiate in a principled way, I can get most of my priorities met while you get most of your priorities met. Note that I didn’t say that I get everything or that you get everything. I said “most.” Good WDs maximize “most” for everyone involved—themselves included (themselves especially). You can’t be a good WD if you don’t do this. So Trump may shoot off his mouth and offend you, but in the end, you can make a deal with him—and not lose your shirt.
Republicans, as an endangered species, don’t seem to understand this. They want all or nothing, so nothing is what they get for their constituents (except for the fat cats who love government to be paralyzed). Modern Republicans (except for Trump) are not WDs. They are hopeless. They are dangerous. They are delusional. The other Republicans are WMDs.
Now, I said in my headline that I’m voting for Trump. That’s actually not true. (But it made you click, didn’t it.) For one thing, I don’t vote in Republican primaries. If I did, I’d vote for Trump. The others are too, too scary. The other reason I’m not voting for Trump is that the Illinois primary is fairly late in primary season. I don’t expect Trump to be a candidate by that time. Trump may be a WD, but he’s too restless to buckle down to be a government bureaucrat, not even the head bureaucrat. And yes, he’s a sleaze and a bully.
Fortunately, there are other WDs in the race for President who have some principles. Bernie Sanders is a wheeler dealer, for sure, and he’s fighting for the ordinary guy. Hillary Clinton may seem very stiff, but she’s nothing, if not a wheeler dealer. So I’m covered. I’ve got two fine WDs to vote for on the Democratic side.
By the way, you may not have noticed, but Barack Obama is a WD, too. How do you think he was able to get so much done with the odds stacked so much against him?
Eightoh9 
Steve, after reading your post I was most distressed to learn that I must be “delusional”, ‘hopeless” and “dangerous” for entertaining some of the Republican sentiments expressed by the WMDs you refer to. For all this time I thought political differences were “ideological” now only to learn they are, at bottom, “delusional.” So I am immediately heading to a psychiatrist to get straightened out, or, perhaps, if my condition is more serious I will go to a brain surgeon, say, for example,Ben Carson.
Best regards and keep up the lively debate. You have a rich imagination
I think I forgot to include my name: it is not anonymous but Greg DEloia
Dear Anonymous– I do not, in any way think that all political differences are delusional. But if a political party systematically roots out everyone with a grasp on reality, they are going to be left with 16 delusional candidates for president. I think the country would be far better off if we had sane people pushing back against the Dems. The same goes in the other direction as well. A baseline skill for a politician is the ability to make a deal. If your “ideology” is that you will never make a deal, you are delusional.
Oh, Greg! Was that you? Great to hear from you. If I would have known, I would have just said: enjoy your delusions!
Indeed, I will enjoy my delusions they are much easier to deal with than reality!