[SampleMan]

Forgetting Jeb being a dweeb, the truth is that Trump is a sign that American Conservatives have given up on working within the system.

For 100 years the Democrat Party has had one populist after another. Unfettered by any adherence to the Constitution, the rule of law, or the concept of individual liberty.

The last Republican populist president was Teddy Roosevelt. And despite a rose colored rear view mirror of history, Teddy took many an extra-Constitutional action.

Trump isn’t a Constitutionalist. If taken at his word (which has recently changed on many issues), Trump is indeed looking to be the anti-Obama.

For years I have had the same discussion with quasi fascist Leftists. I point out that their actions are un-Constitutional, they quibble about it, but eventually settle on the line that they simple don’t care. They want what they want, the Constitution be damned. To this I have always ended the conversation with, “The Constitution exists to prevent civil war, but if living in a civil society with you isn’t possible then I plan on being in charge.”

What we have always seen from the Left is anti-Constitutional populism. It is the reason that Democrats are called Democrats. They ram through what they want, abuse their political enemies via the bureaucracies, and laugh at the laws they break. What I think we are now seeing with the popularity of Trump is that a large number of Republicans would rather have their populist than the Leftists populist, and if we cannot have the Constitution and the rule of law, it only makes sense.

I’m still backing Cruz, and I don’t trust populists to be faithful to any vow, but I’m not at all shocked by the popularity of Trump. Being unfettered by ideological limitations, such as “all men are created equal” which prevents Republicans from such pandering as affirmative action, Trump can and will scoop up voting blocks in the same method as Democrats. Stop trying to fight Federal control of everyone’s daily lives, and fight to be the one in charge of making the decisions.

Constitutional adherents, and I count myself as one, may have just become a small 3rd party.

[Jim Noble]

Being unfettered by ideological limitations, such as “all men are created equal” which prevents Republicans from such pandering as affirmative action, Trump can and will scoop up voting blocks in the same method as Democrats. Stop trying to fight Federal control of everyone’s daily lives, and fight to be the one in charge of making the decisions

Nice analysis.

[AustinBill]

You hit the nail on the head. Trump is very much at 21st century Teddy Roosevelt (who was also considered anathema to the political establishment of his day). The left has run roughshod over the Constitution for so long that it's going to take some "roughshodding" to put things back on track, and it's Trump, not Cruz or anyone else, who is the man of the hour for that task. When the train has derailed you don't fix things by focusing on how to operate the engine.

That's why Trump/Cruz makes sense--a promise to both do what is necessary to right the ship of state and to restore Constitutional governance. Each of these men brings unique qualifications to their part of the work. Working together we may see a true rebirth of American greatness, not in the arrogant imperial sense but as a model and beacon of hope to the world.