The effort to tie ones current thinking to thinking that occurred years ago is the oldest trick in the book. I know for a fact that my thinking about matters has changed over the years. To pin someone down because of what they said years ago is for the fools stupid enough to believe it.
I was lucky enough to grow during the Vietnam War and witness the Left in that time in our nation. It left a mark on my psyche that never left.
There is no way I could ever be a Democrat. I can’t even be a died in the wool Republican any longer.
If Reagan were alive today, he’d say, “I didn’t leave the Democrat party. It left me. I didn’t leave the Republican party either. It followed the Democrats and left me too.” And it would be the truth.
My point is, with few exceptions, my core beliefs haven’t change during my life. Abortion is the one thing that I would say I had to come to terms with.
I was never in favor of it, but I didn’t focus on it, and I more or less agreed it was a matter of choice by default.
I confronted that issue in the mid 90s, and found I was off base. Since that time I have wanted to find a way to eliminate abortions as much as is possible.
It’s my take that Trump roughly parallels my pre conversion on abortion. He just never actually addressed many issues intellectually. He gave flippant answers that he thought were right.
He strikes me as a guy that worked long hours and spent little time actually studying political stances. Once he had to because he was coming into politics, it force him to develop a better understanding an hone his beliefs.
I don’t know what else to attribute his changes to. If he’s simply gaming us, it would have to be a very detailed effort. He knows stuff that only a true Conservative would have know.
The Bergdahl situation for instance. He knows he was a deserter. He knows six troops died trying to find him. He knows the six guys trade for him are top level terrorists and are back in the field. He knows that we shouldn’t have even cared about getting Bergdahl back. He thinks he’s a traitor. He also thinks Bergdahl was surprised he wasn’t treated better.
This guy isn’t just up to speed cosmetically. He knows what he is talking about. And he has made it clear, he wants to know more, by meeting with and talking to people like Sessions.
There’s too much going on there IMO< for him to simply be lying to everyone.