Positive Step towards Unification- Trump Meets the Republican Leadership

With each of them wanting to acquire something from the other, presumptive Republican nominee Donald J. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan sat down for forty-five minutes to exchange ideas about the fall election and work towards coming to terms with an agreement on Republican principles, setting aside policy differences for the time being. For Trump, it was a chance to calm the nerves of the House Speaker and pursue his support, if not endorsement. For Ryan, it was a chance to show the public that the House leadership is not against the Republican nominee, per se, yet all the while holding back on any words of direct support or endorsement, for the time being.

While media reports stressed that the failure to gain the Speaker’s outright endorsement, despite pre-conference claims to indicate that this was not the meeting’s purpose, the media highlighted the policy differences between the two, including Muslim immigration, border enforcement, taxation rate changes and trade. Yet, both of the conferees indicated that it was a positive meeting which emphasized shared principles instead, issuing the following joint statement:

“The United States cannot afford another four years of the Obama White House, which is what Hillary Clinton represents. That is why it’s critical that Republicans unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda, and do all we can to win this fall. With that focus, we had a great conversation this morning. While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground. We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal. We are extremely proud of the fact that many millions of new voters have entered the primary system, far more than ever before in the Republican Party’s history. This was our first meeting, but it was a very positive step toward unification.”

-JOINT STATEMENT
HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN & DONALD J. TRUMP
12 May 2016

While it is fair to say that there are some policy differences which appear to be irreconcilable, it is liberal and NeverTrump wishful thinking to suggest that these differences will stand in the way of party unity, going into an election against Hillary Clinton. In truth, there are a number of broadly held overriding principles on which both men, and the entire Republican Party, can agree and proffer in the fall election, and thereby join forces in a united campaign to win the election. Among them:

– Winning the fight against Radical Islam
– Repealing and replacing Obamacare
– Creating a business environment that encourages production and provides employment
– Possibly four nominations to the Supreme Court
– Addressing the national debt
– Putting America and American interests first in matters of State Department policy and doing so with an acknowledgement of American exceptionalism.

With these, a united Republican party might just have a winning message to juxtapose against the very different Democrat message, and one which would extend the disastrous Obama presidency and further American descent on the world stage. That is to say, save for Republicans named Sasse, Bush, Kristol, Will, Graham and Romney, who can’t manage to get over themselves, realize that the Republican Party is not their fiefdom and save their invective for Hillary Clinton, instead.

In light of the fact that presumptive Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, even with all of her baked-in super delegates, can’t seem to quite “ice the cake” on Bernie Sanders, it is now the Democrats’ burden to unite their voters who are, themselves, deeply divided amongst themselves. Her laughable efforts to dismiss the FBI investigation into her e-mail server as a routine “security review” (a term which FBI Director James Comey summarily rejected in Wednesday’s press conference) won’t hold up to scrutiny for long, as it appears that her day of reckoning may well approach- if not from an outright indictment, then from the political and irreparable disrepute that would surely follow a referral to the Justice Department requesting such.

Think this election is in the bag for Hillary? Think again, for it’s just getting started.

-Drew Nickell, 12 May 2016

© 2016 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.