Nope - back up, you indicated Cruz was offering incrementalism. His platform does not indicate that - it indicates a bold vision of massive change, not incrementalism. So, where is his approach of incrementalism?
But campaigning to the wet dream alienates the very people who think incrementalism and a return to the 1990s level government are good. You want to sell incrementalism by selling the opposite of incrementalism?
I want government to be an insignificant part of my life. If we were to get our 1990âs level of government I wouldnât say âhooray, success!â Instead I would see it as a good start and keep working toward smaller, insignificant government.
Itâs the same thing the leftist have been doing but in the opposite direction. Hell Obamacare isnât even in full swing and yet and they are clamoring for full on socialized healthcare. Why canât we work it the other way with the same fervor?
It would alienate them. Independents are not looking for âconstitutional conservatismâ as a solution to the nationâs problems and will reject a candidate selling it. This is dirt simple politics and common sense - how is it youâre not getting it?
Here it is again:
Candidate Cruz: âI think we should shrink the government to 1990s size.â
Independents: âThat is appealing, depending on exactly what you want to shrink. Life was good in the 1990s.â
Candidate Cruz: âI think we should shrink the government to pre-New Deal size but as a down payment, letâs shrink it to 1990s levels.â
Independents: âWe will vote for another candidate because we have no interest in that. Itâs extreme and out of touch. And even if we got to 1990s levels of government during your tenure, which would be ok, we donât want anyone actively trying to get rid of government programs weâre ok with, which is what you would do.â
Thatâs an easy one. The majority of Americans are not even thinking about it to begin with. They are more concerned with the Kardashians, the NFL or some other highly important topic. However, if they happen to see someone on TV mentioning a benefit cut they recoil and then itâs "Donât take my entitlement.
Because the more popular freedom is freedom from nature, not freedom from a large nanny government.
In fact, it is the nanny government that makes us free from nature, therefore, free to be individuals.
Given enough time we will gravitate towards the first in democracies.
Freedom from government promises that you might indeed be left to starve, in the elements, rotting from sickness, uncared for in your weak old age, raising your single-parent children all alone, and so on and so on. A bit difficult to exercise your very own special brand of free individualistic expression under such circumstances. Might those old traditional civil institutionsâchurch, larger families (to better share the cost of caring for old and young), the rich local company-owning patrons hiring and investing in localâfill in to some extent in place of a nanny state?..Well, progressivism has rotted that away.
A nanny state, on the other hand, promises safety nets for those situations, leaving one more free and confident to get on with being a unique libertine individual.
I never said independents are all like me - but as I said above, independents are by and larger not anti-government libertarian, âconstitutional conservativesâ. I couldnât care less if you personally consider yourself to be an independent - what matters is how they think generally and vote as a bloc. And they arenât a bunch of Ron Paulnuts - they are middle of the road voters who arenât clamoring to make government as insignificant as possible in their lives.
Nope - itâs a function of reading basic information about current polling and recent elections, which is available to you through reliable, objective sources should you desire to seek them out.
And itâs supported by the fact that not even Republicans are desirous of a âconstitutional conservativeâ as a bloc - if they were, Trump wouldnât be winning primaries.
Trumps success, I believe, is tied more to a large, albeit politically silent, group that are tired of reading 'The Stupid 'threadâs political correct garbage.
He gives assurance that someone with (political) power, money and following shares their âvaluesâ.
âŠbut what do I know, Iâm surrounded by Bernie and coexist bumper stickers.