ON TARGET COMMENTARY 

TIME TO START GETTING SERIOUS

Nov. 8, 2015                                                                                                                                              by Dave Gunn

     I understand – I really do.  Donald Trump came out sounding like a conservative and talking like no politician talks.  He said outrageous things and instead of apologizing like an establishment Republican wimp when liberals got upset he doubled-down, and you admired him for it.  His brash talk and his take no prisoners style appealed to the fighter in you.  After all, haven’t we all grown tired of the Republicans in Washington who promised to fight for us and got rolled by Obama on every issue of importance to us?

     Now let’s get serious.  After hearing a number of his speeches and examining his positions, we must conclude that Donald Trump is a moderate/conservative at best and more likely a true moderate like George W. Bush, the “compassionate conservative.”

     Remember that it was no so long ago that Trump endorsed Hilary Clinton for the presidency.  Now he says he is a conservative.  That may be true on some issues.  However, what Trump has not yet done is explain how he came to the conservative positions he holds, and especially how he moved so far across the political spectrum so quickly.

     Ronald Reagan was once a moderately liberal Democrat.  He changed into a conservative Republican.  However, it took a long time and was done issue by issue.

     Chris Christie (clearly not our first choice) was once pro-abortion and is now pro-life.  He has explained that it was that turned him.  No such explanation has come from Donald Trump to explain why his pro-abortion stance quickly changed to his now professed pro-life position.  Nor has he explained any of the changes he has made in his political philosophy.  Have these changes been borne out of serious thought, or expedience?

     Add to this the fact that Trump’s abortion position (like that of many Republicans) is not intellectually credible.  Trump would allow abortions in cases of rape, incest, or to preserve the life of the mother.  While these are tough cases, we must say that if abortion is murder when done for convenience, it is also murder in all cases.  Murder is murder.

     Then, too, Trump is not so conservative as he would have us believe.  He is fine with the IRS as it is, and would raise taxes on those who are wealthy – those already paying the lion’s share of taxes.  He would reduce funding for the Department of Education but would not eliminate it.  He does not see the need to reform and eventually phase-out Social Security.

     Of course, Trump would be better than Hilary Clinton.  But so would Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Lindsey Graham and Joe Biden.

     It is time for pro-life conservatives to start thinking about coalescing around a candidate that is a solid pro-life conservative, and who has proven that he will take a stand against the liberalism and the “go along to get along” attitude of the Republican leadership in the Senate and House.   Let’s support someone about whom we can really be enthusiastic.

[Dave Gunn is the nom de plume of Dr. David E. Gonnella, pastor of the Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, Alabama.  The opinions expressed are his own and not necessarily those of the congregation]