I'd step back for a moment and look at reality. Had Trump not been an ahole at times there is a good chance Trump would still be President. So character does matter. Now you can blame that on voters who are "unmanly" are easily offended, or only care about personality, the media, etc. However, Trump did nothing to help himself with certain unnecessary comments. Yes, the media had it out for him, but why make their job easier?
One irony when you talk about toughness is Trump himself. He is one of the thinnest skinned, easily offended individuals around. I think you might mistake his retaliatory insults as toughness, when in fact it is the opposite. Much of his divisive rhetoric came as a result of him being thin-skinned. You notice that Trump never said these insults to anyone's face....typically only when he had a favorable audience. I believe that would fall under the category of "passive/aggressive". I know the common belief is that Trump is a narcissist. I disagree. I think he has low self esteem that he tries to compensate for by being an a-hole. I could be wrong here, but I've been around a number of successful people that would often raise themselves up by knocking others down.
In defense of Trump, he had no tolerance for bureaucracy. So he was brutal on bureaucrats, which I believe was warranted. Anyone who has ever run a business, knows bureaucracy is the biggest obstacle to progress. Trump was also brilliant with the use of leverage (in great contrast to Obama), however, this was often portrayed as bullying by the media, and in some cases it did border on bullying.
Sorry, but you can't lay this all at the doorstep of personality voters. Trump had very good policies, great compared to Obama and Biden, but he is not the prophet you make him out to be.
Nikki Haley 2024
What! Now this is word count worthy. This has got to be a parody of the other post or you are delusional, but either way, this is a another sterling example of my point - an emotional word salad all about personality and manners, although I’ll give credit for a general policy mention. But seriously, are you sure someone else didn't write this while you were busy massaging bunions?
Where to start......
How it started:
“Had Trump not been an ahole at times there is a good chance Trump would still be President.”
How it ended:
“Sorry, but you can't lay this all at the doorstep of personality voters.”
1) You really didn’t notice the contradiction?
2) Seriously? “ahole”, you’re addressing another Man, you can use asshole.
“He is one of the thinnest skinned, easily offended individuals around.”
1) What Men talk like this, especially to and about other Men?
2) Did you grow up with all older sisters?
“I believe that would fall under the category of "passive/aggressive".
1) See 1 & 2 above.
“I think you might mistake his retaliatory insults as toughness, when in fact it is the opposite”
1) You think I might mistake….no, allow me to remove any question for you – retaliatory insults ARE toughness.
2) If you are constantly called a racist Russian agent and your wife and kids receive a never ending barrage of vile insults…..your response would be what? “cut it out, you’re being passive/aggressive”
“You notice that Trump never said these insults to anyone's face”
1) Again, What! Were you in a coma during the Republican primary debates with, I forgot the total number of candidates,18 to 20ish, the presidential debates. and the historical number of presidential press conferences and encounters? ***Although I have no proof, I’m willing to bet if there were cameras behind closed doors…… We’d see the same.
2) Also, this one has me leaning away from parody and more towards delusional.
“portrayed as bullying by the media, and in some cases it did border on bullying.”
1) Again, no thoughts of contradiction passed through your cranium with this one?
2) Although I must admit, probably unbeknownst to you, but you hit comedy gold with this.
“he is not the prophet you make him out to be.”
1) "In reality" I can give two shits about Trump personally. All the emotionally driven personality/vulgarity/manners/mean tweets etc. etc. etc., only crosses my mind when I see it as a weakness in others. I measure a Man by his word, actions, and results..... based on that I put Trump up there with Reagan as one of the greatest presidents in my lifetime and found it easy to cast, and will again cast my vote for him, regardless of what my wife thinks or says.
Speaking of my wife, like you and many women, she focused on and struggled with the emotional personality judgments of Trump. But ultimately, being a first-generation immigrant, she intelligently and wisely understood the huge impact of elections beyond personalities, along with what was best for her family and country, making the choice obvious and easy.
As for me, having spent most of my adult life in the military and law enforcement and having felt and lived the actual consequences of elections, our binary choice is always logically obvious and easy.....It's the emotional illogical choices of others, that we are currently living through, that are hard to comprehend. But I believe the answer is somewhere within one of my favorite quotes:
“
You have never lived until you've almost died. For those who have fought for it, life has a flavor the protected shall never know.”
— Guy De Maupassant
