Ace of Spades is wrong

It hurts me to say this because I like Ace.  But he's attacked Trump in an illogical way.  He says that Trump's no Reagan, and that's true; there will never be another Reagan. But that's OK. America has, so far risen to the occasion when it's in trouble and leaders have sprung up. Here's where Ace gets a little ugly:

My problem with Trump is that he is a dealmaker trying to make a sale. Right now he's trying to make a deal with conservatives -- so this is the very most conservative we'll ever see him.

If he gets the nomination, he now starts working on making the second part of the deal with the other party in the negotiations, the general public.

So this is the most conservative we'll ever see Trump -- this is the absolute most conservative he'll ever be -- and he's not conservative at all, except, possibly, on immigration. He combines liberal policy impulses with frankly authoritarian or even fascist ones, which he thinks are "what conservatives want," because, frankly, he conceives of us as ugly-minded, stupid dummies who get off on this shit.

That's why he didn't put the "Ban Muslims" line in a more palatable, persuasive form, like "Reduce immigration from Muslim-majority countries or countries with a terrorism problem to a level where we can vet each individual applicant."

No, he put it in the most bigoted, ugly way he could think of, because that's about his level, and because, also, that's what he thinks "conservatives" are.

I was unable to post my response in his comments (server error) so I'll post it here.

Ace, I love you (in a good, manly way of course) but you’re wrong. It’s not because I know how great a President Trump will be, but because the issues you cited are just wrong. Read the O’Reilly transcript and then tell me that Trump was in favor of importing hundreds of thousands of Syrians. “They're living in hell, and something has to be done.” is not “let’s bring them all to the US.” I realize I’m parsing words here, but you don’t go on O’Reilly’s show for an intelligent debate about foreign policy. You go for face time with the public, and then you leave. The same reason you go to any late night comic’s show. It’s not to disagree with the host; it’s to make a good impression and leave.

You then join (in Peggy Noonan’s words) the protected class by dumping on the unprotected class. When you say that “ … he put it in the most bigoted, ugly way he could think of, because that's about his level, and because, also, that's what he thinks "conservatives" are” you’re also impugning (according to the polls) roughly 44% of Republicans who, according to Reuters, support Trump. So yeah, at this point about 44 out of every 100 Republicans like what Trump’s saying and respond positively to how he’s saying it. So you’re saying what every Liberal asshole with a keyboard and a byline has been saying ever since they lost the Solid South: Republicans are ugly bigots.

Now, I don’t want to pick a fight with a guy with whom I often agree so let me give you an alternative theory. Trump understands the majority of the American people have come to the realization that they are about to lose the country they love to people who don’t love it. They understand that they are being tossed by the wayside by both Democrats and Republicans. Their kids are being indoctrinated to hate America. They are being replaced by cheap foreign labor by the managerial class running America’s industries, and their most deeply held beliefs are despised by the Ruling Class who is determined to make them “bake a cake” – a metaphor for forcing them to do things to which they are morally opposed.

Trump, being a smart man, has seized the opportunity to do a hostile take-over of a brand that has been run into the ground by inept management: the Republican Party. But here’s where you and I differ: it would be beyond stupid for Trump to run as the champion of the people who support him, and then give them the cold shoulder once he claims the prize. Trump may not have been the student of political theory that Reagan was, but he’s not stupid and he’s not going to make the mistake that the Republicans have made once they got to Washington. He’s running as a nationalist and if he wins he will govern as one. He will govern as a champion of the little guy, not just pay them lip service at election time. To do otherwise would turn literally everyone against him. That would not build his brand, and one thing Trump knows how to do is build his brand.