As many other republicans- I am struggling with Donald Trump as a candidate(although the concept of the alternative makes it less of a struggle
) As someone who has spent his entire life in the NYC tri-state area I have had a steady diet of "The Donald" for decades The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Like Ben Carson said, there seems like there are two donald Trumps- The Boorish, Obnoxious, bullying wheeler dealer and the thoughful, good father, great friend and generous philantropist
As mentioned in previous posts- Donald Trump made his fortune the old fashioned way- he inherited it!! Yes his father made him a loan, but it was to expand an already successful business that Donald was brought into, It came with all of his Dad's connections etc.. To Donald's credit he built from that foundation and made it more successful, Ironically- Fred Trump made his money building low income and lower middle class housing in Queens and Brooklyn-while Donald has focused on more upscale projects.
Donald Trump went to the New York Military Academy( a school that later went bankrupt and was recently sold to Chinese Investors) He used his father's connections for several military deferments and was later 4-f'd due to some foot condition.
Some great public-private things he did in New York are impressive. Besides Trump Tower and other upscale buildings. Trump negotiated some tax abatements when he renovated the old Commodore Hotel(now the Grand Hyatt) net to Grand Central terminal. He offered to clean GCT(which was a black, soot covered eyesore) in exchange for the tax relief. The cleaning was a huge success(made the hotel look better too) and help lead to the total renovation that has made GCT a destination spot and a jewel of the city, The other was Wollman Rink in Central Park. The rink had fallen into disrepair and the City renovations had been marked with scandal, cost overruns and was way behind schedule. Trump finished ahead of schedule and under budget,
Trump's personal life is also two-sided-
One side he has raised very impressive kids. Well educated and each eager to make their mark. I think someone's children is a huge reflection on their own character
Then their are the three marriages(Can't figure why the evangelicals like this guy
) His public divorce of Ivana. The "Best Sex I Ever had!" proclamation to Marla Maples. BTW two of his Wives were Immigrants- Ivana was from a member of the Warsaw Pact(an enemy at the time)
He is well known for his sexist and Boorish comments, yet his business has been downright progressive in its hiring and promoting of qualified women. He has probably dome more for de-facto women's rights than Hillary!
He is touted as a successful businessman- This is true, but with some warts. His business has been brought to the brink twice due to debt, to his credit he was able to negotiate out of it. His investments in Atlantic City have been a disaster. Frankly I find the style of some of his buildings a little over the top, but they seem to do well. He has built some nice building outside of NYC (White Plains, Stamford, and New Rochelle which have help to revitalize those downtowns.
I am concerned about his views on trade(if taken at their word) I actually believe a lot of what he said are overblown negotiating tactics(what a surprise for a NYC Real Estate Salesman!) Tariffs are bad for the economy as a hold and tend to lead to trade wars, inflation, recession and even depressions- the real losers tend to be the American Consumer. America first and isolationism may sound great, historically they have been a disaster. It was these movements that help deepen the Great Depression and our late and costly entrance to WWII. I hear the warning about "Globalists", but to ignore the Global economy and the inter-connections to our own economy are IMO foolish and short-sighted I hope that this is a bargaining ploy.
Being a businessman and not a politician are very attractive. I think we need a different strategy and "out of the box" thinking. I am concerned though that Trump has run private companies that really have only been answerable to himself. Our form of Government has checks and balances that may frustrate him if he does not learn how to navigate them. Business tactics are good, but Government is a different animal.
After all these ramblings I have put somewhat simplistic Pros and Cons. Please feel free to add:
Pros:
Businessman-not a politician
Knows how to get projects done
Already vetted by press-no skeletons
Speaks his mind-no PC here
Not bound by any political dogma-flexible
Does not need lobbyists
Portrays a tough leadership persona
Cons:
Boorish and Rude
"Flexibility" can be view as flip-flopping, not sure what he really stands for
Tends to over-simplify things
His insults are childish
He comes across as racists by lumping groups together
Tariff proposals
