"Donald Trump isn't a Real Conservative"

One of the talking points used against Donald Trump is that he isn't a "Real Conservative"; examples at [1]. That talking point might be counter-productive and it exposes yet again that being a "real conservative" isn't actually all that popular.

1. Some of Trump's support might come from disaffected Democrats, and pointing out that Trump isn't a real conservative might make it easier for them to vote for him. A related talking point is that Trump is a former Democrat; that might help him broaden his voting base [2].

2. Around 60% of GOP voters say they want a candidate who's conservative (42%) or very conservative (18%) [3]. Yet, most of them are choosing Trump over Real Conservatives (or at least pretenders to that title) like Jeb Bush. Many Republicans might say they want smaller government, but try to take away all the benefits they receive and see what they say. Real Conservative movements like the Tea Parties have done nothing good for the U.S.: they've talked a good game but they've barely tried to stop Obama's loose immigration and free trade agenda. Real Conservatives are a big loser for most Americans. Faced with a pro-amnesty Real Conservative like Jeb or a not-that-conservative Trump, the GOP base tends to prefer Trump.

3. Some of Trump's stated policies are where most Americans are politically. They reject NeoLiberal economics and the cultural far-left. Trump isn't just in line with most Republicans [4], but most Americans.

That said, what Trump is doing is taking very important issues and then dumbing them down in a way that helps those on the other side of those issues. Instead of proposing a realistic plan to keep terrorists out of the U.S., Trump pandered to his base and proposed a completely unrealistic plan to keep out all Muslims at least temporarily. Trump could have got a lot of support with the first and forced Obama's hand, but no one with any power is going to support the second. Trump released his Muslims plan over a month ago; has anyone in Congress proposed a bill to make it happen? Has anyone in Congress said they'd support such a bill?

That's what Trump's opponents should do: point out to his base how he's misleading them. He'll never be able to build the "Trump Wall" all along the border and Trump will never be able to deport all illegal aliens. Trump's opponents need to patiently explain to his base that he's making promises to them that he knows he won't ever be able to follow through on.

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[1] Glenn Beck: Donald Trump is ‘not a true conservative’
washingtontimes . com/news/2015/aug/22/glenn-beck-donald-trump-is-not-a-true-conservative/

Cruz crows he’s the real conservative in Iowa, predicts Trump will tumble
washingtontimes . com/news/2015/nov/30/ted-cruz-boasts-hes-real-conservative-iowa-predict/

Bush Makes the Case That Trump Is Not Conservative
time . com/4172287/jeb-bush-donald-trump-conservative/

[2] spectator . org/articles/63765/are-reagan-democrats-becoming-trump-democrats

[3] gallup . com/poll/187901/republicans-again-desire-conservative-presidential-nominee.aspx

[4] slate . com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/11/
donald_trump_is_a_moderate_republican_that_s_why_he_s_winning.html