Brad, you wrote.... ".....He is a different bird. But it was the bird that one of the major parties wanted to go with.....".
I would like to rephrase what you wrote to reflect the way I interpreted the situation.
"......the Republicans was the party that the different bird wanted to go with because he knew he would never be elected as an independent. The Republicans were so desperate to take the White House that they would have gone with Mickey Mouse if he had stood....."
The stain on the integrity of the Republican party is that Donald Trump does not represent Republican values, neither in his personal life, his business life nor his now political life. If we cannot trust the major parties to endorse candidates that truly represent their stated (and very long-standing) values then who can we trust?
This is a serious question because it calls into doubt the one thing that one expects from the major political parties and that is - integrity. Never, until now, have I doubted the ability of either the Republicans or the Democrats to govern, but now there is an element of doubt in my mind, which is difficult to come to terms with.
T.
I wanted to respond to this better, because you make some really good points here.
I've been following Trump for a few years now on Twitter. And I was noticing that he had a big following. A huge following. It didn't surprise me when he announced his office.
So when I thought he might have a chance, I started researching his stances and viewpoints. What I found was a guy who spent A LOT of his own money having strategists develop potential plans for healthcare, education, etc. While I didn't agree with everything 100%, I liked what I saw.
Like I stated, I didn't vote for him in the primaries. I voted for Cruz. However....by pretty large numbers, the Registered Republican voters in this country voted for Trump to be their candidate. They had several other really good candidates they could have picked; Carson and Rubio among them. But they chose Trump.
And yes...this is a contest, and the registered republicans did not want Hillary to win.
I had someone tell me one time that a preacher "can't" do both. They're either good in the pulpit and terrible at interpersonal skills; or a great people-person, and lackluster as a public speaker.
Trump has said some really stupid and gross things. However... being a student of Humans.. LOL, I happen to have on good knowledge that everybody has done the same. They just may not have got recorded doing it.
I do expect Trump to learn and adapt, and realize that it's not a Reality Show; but real life and he is a Leader. I don't want him to tame his fire; just be a little more Strategic in how he says things.
It's kind of hard (for me) to really state what is "republican"; or for that matter, what is "Democrat". What is the Democratic Party right now? Obama? Hillary? Schumer? Pelosi? 9th Circuit Court of Appeals? The National Platform? I'm sure there will be a leader rise in the party soon and the party then will begin to take the shape of that individual.
So on the Republicans, what is the party?? As the leader of the Party, Trump will (for better or worse) form what the party is about; and what it represents. Right now... I would like to see it be the party that tries to bring jobs back to America, and put people back to work. Others may not agree with that, and I'll respect that. But I do like Trumps vision; and for a while, will give him a chance.