You have engaged in this conversation in both a civil and meaningful manner so of course I will not ignore your comments.
We will have to disagree on god and abortion for now. With regard to his past behavior, I find it important to examine his actions, as it is at least somewhat indicative of his moral compass. With that said, there is nothing that shows me that personal moral failings mean that a person cannot be an effective leader. The point I am trying to emphasize is that there are plenty of solidly conservative politicians who live upstanding moral lives and would be far better representation of American values than Trump. Furthermore, I find it extremely difficult to simply brush aside his own admissions of sexual assault, the degrading ways he has talked about women, his utterly repugnant and often flat-out wrong tweets, and his puerile approach to the office of the presidency.
See I can't put God and abortion aside because for me that would be two of the biggest issues I'd vote on with regards to domestic matters. To me abortion is murder, plain and simple. Other's have grey areas on this, I don't... be that as it may. Furthermore, advancing the faith and protecting Christians worldwide is vital for western civilisation. Christian - Jewish morals are what the west is based on. I can bet my bottom dollar that the Dems won't protect those values. I agree there are some more presidential members but would they have the freedom/balls to do what he has done. They would all be in someone's pocket. Trump self funded his campaign and therefore owed nobody.
He has certainly kept some promises, namely lowering corporate taxes, which I consider to be the highlight of his presidency. However, his failures are the direct result of either not making the necessary compromises to pass legislation or the wholly unacceptable attempts to shirk processes, which has resulted in many of his directives being stymied. His all-or-nothing approach to governance has continued legislative gridlock and worked against his own agenda.
You are right in some respects he is inflexible and could have accomplished more, but also sometimes there are certain things one shouldn't bend on. I would say the gridlock is LARGELY due to the swamp nit picking or being downright obstructive.
From what I have seen, Trump has courted Saudi Arabia, Russia, and North Korea as allies. THESE are not the allies we want. I agree with Trump that we need to demand more from our European allies as far as defense spending is concerned. However, the real threats we face are from China, Russia, and Iran. We need an international coalition to properly deal with these countries, and that is impossible when Trump does not even try to build such coalitions.
The difference is that he is not courting these countries to instil THEIR government principals in the US but rather to advance democracy in THEM... The Dems want to do it the other way around. They love the romantic notion of socialism. As for him not trying to build coalitions, why would the so called allies want a change to the status quo? They are happy to take take take. They get the US protection and it is largely for free. Like I said, they know where their bread is buttered. So Donald lighting a fire under their butts will not change their allegiance.
Once again, we will have to disagree on this. What you see as democrats promoting division, I see as democrats attempting to deliver on their promises of social justice and inclusion. I see Trump's failure to show any compassion whatsoever for those who are victims of violence, racism, and oppression as far more divisive. If after the George Floyd killing, he had spoken to the pain that many communities were feeling and vowed to both protect the 1st Amendment rights of peaceful protesters, deliver substantial reforms, and maintain peaceful conditions in cities, he would not be in his current position.
But this is simply not the case. They use race and other dividers to divide. You are fast becoming a nation not of Americans but a nation groups. One group hates the other or loves one but not the other. Instead of one nation of Americans that is diverse. Social justice? You guys in the US simply don't know how great you have it. It is probably the most socially just country on the planet. Is it perfect? No. Can it ever be? No. How far do you want to go down the social justice road? Even poor old Columbus is a target. Every mini group wants compensation or preferential treatment for some perceive injustice even if it was 450 years ago. This is what you get when identity politics rules... groups of spineless whiners. Stand together and say Shit happens lets move on.
As for racism, Trump has repeatedly denounced racists, banned some of them, has introduced policies to address racism, legislation to help give minorities a start in life. The Dems pull out the race card every 4 years and then use the 4 years to bugger it all up.
Some of the policies that I hold dear are guns, personal freedoms, healthcare, women's rights, taxes, Israel, justice reform, government spending, the environment, and countering Russia/China/Iran/Saudi Arabia. As you can see, I am pretty evenly split down the middle, which means I have to look at which policies I believe are most easily threatened by a Biden presidency vs a Trump presidency. Obviously, my calculations change based on the candidates. For instance, I would vote for Trump over Sanders because I believe that Sanders is a bigger threat to my policy views than Trump.
