The knock against him is that he is an opportunist demagogue who is simply playing to whatever generates the most applause at the moment. He will say one thing today. Tomorrow, in front of another audience, he will say something else. And he will "mean it" both times.
I think Trump was completely sincere all those years when he was a conventional Manhattan liberal celebrity, aggressively pro-choice, celebrating planned parenthood, supporting Obamacare, and contributing to Hillary, Chuckie, Nancy, et.al. I think he is completely sincere now, playing to Republican crowds, when he adopts to opposite positions. I think he was completely sincere when he approved of the U.S. war in Iraq, and completely sincere when he went Code Pink a couple of weeks ago.
"Sincerity," however, does not mean the same thing to Trump as it does to most of us. Donald does not have principles. He has impulses, and angles to play, and deals to make. Will he sacrifice political popularity to nominate and support conservative Supreme Court nominees, or reform entitlements, or repeal Obamacare? What in his record makes you think there is any principle that he will not abandon as soon as it is convenient to do so?
He has no political "record" other than voting for Republicans almost exclusively. He has no policies or laws that he's sponsored or enacted. He has never held or run for political office where he's had to run on what he believes...until now. And what he's stating is conservative. You can look up the public comments of any public figure and construct a narrative of their politics by cherry picking the comments that fit the narrative you're trying to construct. I can make Barack Obama look like a rock solid conservative by selectively quoting him and holding up his family life. But what gives him away is the policies and his political record. Trump has no policies or political record.
But the GOP does?
and angles to play, and deals to make.
Sounds like the GOP.
Will he sacrifice political popularity to nominate and support conservative Supreme Court nominees, or reform entitlements, or repeal Obamacare? What in his record makes you think there is any principle that he will not abandon as soon as it is convenient to do so?
None of the so called conservatives we sent to Washington have actually lived up to what Cruz or other conservatives demand from Trump. These people have given us liberal judges, caved for Obama and have sold out on principles they claim to have.