Nikki Haley is a neocon, but she's not nearly as pro-war as people in my camp think she is.
I support CNN "platforming" Trump in last night's town hall. He's the leading candidate and the choice to host him isn't just understandable, but obvious. But Kennedy and Haley are much more interesting. Everyone already knows who Trump is and what he's about, and he is what he is.
Jim Morrison once said something along the lines of "Personally, I think it's bullshit. But I'll tell you one thing, man... we're gonna get our kicks before the whole shithouse goes down in flames".
Trump's appeal is among those who rightly think the whole thing is a joke. Specifically, Republicans who recognize that no matter who you vote for and whether or not they win, government grows, spending increases, culture progressively leans further left, power continues to centralize in Washington, regulatory capture is essentially across the board regardless of industry benefitting those that can afford lobbyists, the welfare/warfare state marches ahead, all of that.
Trump is a big middle finger to a system that his followers have plenty of reason to believe is beyond repair, or close enough, at least by any conventional means whatsoever. They see just holding their nose to vote for a Romney or McCain or Bush as the definition of insanity if what you're expecting is positive change rather than at best slowing down the increase in speed as the whole thing goes off the cliff. Like... even Reagan grew government despite radical rhetoric, and we probably haven't had a truly limited government President since, what... Coolidge maybe? As much as Trump is said to be this huge threat to democracy, he's an expression of it, while most of his opponents have been an expression of the oligarchy that our republic has become.
In other words, I'm much more sympathetic than I used to be to the rationale of the MAGA crowd.
Me? I am interested in policy. I make spreadsheets every election before deciding rating the candidates by their positions and voting records. Under that system, Trump is the worst GOP candidate running outside of Asa Hutchinson. His time in office showed he wasn't immune to the influence of what he calls the swamp either. But the Trump voter? They don't even care about any of that. Their answer is "fuck you, that's why", and honestly it's a more rational impulse than it should be as a reaction to the world as it exists rather than the political world of school house rock. Like... if voting doesn't really change anything, then you might as well vote for "Deez Nuts", especially when "Deez Nuts" is an actual person who will talk all the shit that a certain section of Republicans want said out loud.