Godstud wrote:The difference is between saying that you WILL do it, with that you'd LIKE to do it.
It's not a winning strategy in politics to say "I'd like to do something but it probably won't be happening", and election campaigns don't lend themselves to nuanced arguments.
Anyway, there's nothing to suggest that Trump wouldn't sign compromise bills on a variety of issues. One of the things that he can legitimately be criticised for is that he seems to flip flop a lot and it's often less than clear what his position actually is, but here you've argued that he is so rigid and principled that he won't compromise.
Albert wrote:I remember reading that Republicans wanted Trump to drop the whole idea of The Wall out of Immigration Reform bill. That is not a compromise but undermining Trump's promise he made to the electorate. I believe this could be symbolic of how much Republicans are willing to "compromise" with Trump on issues they disagree with him.
Yeah, I think one of the more recent immigration bills that didn't pass the house was unsuccessful mainly because some Republicans didn't find it lenient enough. The idea that Republicans are united behind Trump is clearly nonsense. Presumably, a president Bernie Sanders would have had trouble implementing his platform too even if the Democrats had been lucky enough to win the presidency and get a majority in both house and senate.
Rugoz wrote:Trump is too dumb to be an ideologue, he's driven by instinct and self interest. He's certainly capable of ignoring advice though.
Not that I think Trump is "dumb", but stupidity has never prevented people from being ideologues. I don't know why you would think so, but most likely this is just cheap point scoring on your part.
Rugoz wrote:At some point, yes, it probably would have. Either way, my point stands, he failed at "divide-and-conquer" so far, if that was his strategy (the EU's response to his tariffs was swift).
Sure, I didn't want to give the impression that he succeeded in bringing about disunity, although I'm not sure if that was the objective at this point.
Rugoz wrote:Trump will get reelected for the same reason Dubya was reelected, because Americans are dumb fucks.
That's the spirit, Rugoz. Attitudes like yours will help with his reelection, much like they will help elect more populists in Europe.