Dear Mr. Trump:
THANK YOU
Thank you for what you have done for our country during the presidential campaign. You have articulated issues which many others were reluctant to discuss and you have energized the nation.
Immigration
Others had raised the issue but had ducked the tough problems. You did not. You pointed out the absurdity of taking taxpayer money and giving it to people we knew were breaking the law. You forcefully made the point that a nation that does not enforce its borders has no borders and cannot be a nation.
You showed the impact of illegals competing with citizens for scarce jobs in tough economic times
You told the truth about the many criminal acts committed by illegal immigrants and you disputed their right to remain in this country. You highlighted the foolishness of sanctuary cities.
The mass media gave publicity to your views not because they agreed with them but because they thought it would discredit you. As usual, the mass media had no idea what rank-and-file Americans thought. [Please note: not the “mainstream” media because the media is not "mainstream;" it is unequivocally Left.]
Justice Scalia
You were one of the first to focus on the most important issue for the next president – the choice of a successor to Justice Scalia. You have committed to replace Justice Scalia with a justice who has equal fidelity to the Constitution and to fill future vacancies on the Court with like-minded individuals so that the country may return to our values, a government of law, not politicians.
The Left claims a “living” constitution is required by a changed world. [Note the loaded language, implying our Constitution is dead]. Translation: the Constitution means whatever 5 unelected political appointees say it means.
The Founders created checks and balances to form a government never before seen on the planet, one which Gladstone characterized as “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man."
It is that Constitution which ensures our rights by requiring all laws, executive actions and judicial decisions to conform to it. Without fidelity to the Constitution, there are no checks and balances to curb a president ignoring the Congress by promulgating "executive orders."
Justice Scalia pointed out that, if one disagrees with any Constitutional provision and thinks it should be changed or enlarged, there is a remedy: convince one’s fellow citizens to amend it. That was how the abolition of slavery and the enfranchisement of women were accomplished.
Should Hillary Clinton win, she will appoint another Leftist and the Left will no longer have to worry about winning votes to pass legislation - their agenda will be “enacted” by the Court.
When Justice Scalia was alive, the 5 GOP Supreme Court nominees often disagreed on conservative issues, the 4 Democrat appointees never disagreed on liberal agenda issues. They did not even have to show up for the argument; their votes were known. You understand the reality. The 5th Left Justice will signal the end of Constitutional government. We will have government by Kagan/Sotomayor/Breyer/Ginsburg and a Leftist to be named ratifying whatever Hillary deems desirable.
Tax Reform
You have articulated the best tax reform proposal of any candidate, a plan designed to get our economy growing again after years of Democrat disincentives to entrepreneurship.
Pro Life
You are unabashedly pro-life and have come to that conclusion having started out on the other side of the issue. After studying the facts, you correctly concluded it is impossible to regard killing an infant in utero as “health care.”
You have committed to defund Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in our country. Planned Parenthood receives $500,000,000 of taxpayer money annually and kicks back contributions to Democrat candidates who in turn vote to fund Planned Parenthood with taxpayer money.
None of the other candidates have pointed out this blatantly illegal kickback scheme.
Experience
Unlike Hillary Clinton, you have had success as an entrepreneur. She has been the prototypical politician, focused on herself, with a record of government jobs which she has performed with unparalleled incompetence.
You know how to create jobs, run a business and work with people to advance their interests - all qualities necessary for the president and totally alien to Hillary Clinton.
Pence
You made an excellent choice in selecting as a vice president a man who is truly conservative, is pro-life, is a sitting governor, has an exemplary record in Congress and has had success in the private sector.
Republicans In Name Only [RINOs]
You had the courage to call out "Republicans" who are not Republicans. Conservatives were told that, if we gave the Republicans a majority in 2014, they would repeal Obama care, reduce taxes, cut spending and secure the border. They did none of these. As you noted, they capitulated to the Left.
They gave up the 2/3rds vote required for a treaty by surrendering to allow Barack Obama to call the outrageous Iran deal an executive agreement; 10 GOP Senators voted to confirm Loretta Lynch as AG after she testified she would uphold the unconstitutional amnesty order; 31 Republicans senators voted to advance the Continuing Resolution that funded Planned Parenthood, the Iran deal, executive amnesty and Obamacare.
McConnell and Boehner and Ryan then agreed to a “deal” which funded those Obama goals, raised the debt ceiling beyond Obama’s term, and approved $50 billion of additional spending in 2016 and $30 billion in 2017. Needless to say, 100% of the Democrat senators voted for it. But it would not have passed had not 18 "Republican" senators voted for it!
You infuriated the RINOs by telling the people the truth – that they have allowed Barack Obama, among other things, to increase the debt to historic and unsustainable numbers.
The RINOs now work against you. After harassing you to commit to supporting the nominee whoever that might be, when you wound up as the nominee, many of them have refused to support you. Their conduct is despicable.
The Mass Media
You correctly told America that the mass media were in the pocket of the Left. They are the Izvestia and Pravda for the liberal agenda. You took them on and people loved you for it.
THE PROBLEMS
My wife Bonnie was one of your earliest supporters and originally predicted that you would win in a landslide because you are not a politician. Now, she no longer thinks it will be a landslide but continues to believe, or perhaps more accurately to hope, that you will win. She believes that the people love the way you are outspoken, not parsing your words like the typical politician.
However, that strength [not being a politician] is also a weakness. A candidate does need to have a political sense as to what stands to take, what battles to fight, what issues to emphasize. Too often, you simply react without reflecting on what would be a better way to respond, and consequently offend unnecessarily. After one such response, our son commented: “He just can’t help himself.”
An example is your reaction to Gov. Martinez’ less than enthusiastic reaction to your candidacy. Your response was to attack her. How did that help? The support of a pro-life, Hispanic female, a sitting governor with a good record, would have been such a boost to your campaign. The smart thing to have done was to try and reconcile her concerns.
Frequently, you lose focus. The goal is to defeat Hillary and to restore our country, not to re-fight past battles with other Republicans and not to sidetrack the campaign to extraneous issues.
Most damaging for your election are your own words. Your flamboyant and entertaining personality has led you to comments which I believe, upon reflection, you have regretted. Statements demeaning John McCain, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Charles Krauthammer, women in general, etc., have handicapped you with significant segments of the electorate.
The Left and their obedient mass media will saturate the air with videos of you which will enable the Left to win. It will block your goal, our goal, to take back our country and, in your apt words, to make America great again.
I know the mass media deliberately and grossly misrepresent your words - e.g., turning your clever joke [maybe the Russians could find Hillary's missing emails] into a charge of treason, a lie for the gullible. But the fact remains they actually can show you saying:
“[John McCain is] not a war hero…. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
"I get called by a guy that can't buy a pair of pants, I get called names?" [about paralyzed commentator Charles Krauthammer]
“How stupid are the people of Iowa?" [after a poll showing Ben Carson beating you in Iowa]
“Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, [Carly Fiorina’s] a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?"
"You could see there was blood coming out of [Megyn Kelly's] eyes, blood coming out of her whatever."
"Must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees." [comment to a woman on the Apprentice] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urReg9O6MwA
“Beautiful, famous, successful, married – I’ve had them all, secretly, the world’s biggest names, but unlike Geraldo I don’t talk about it.”
“You know, it really doesn’t matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
and they will use this:
"I know Hillary and I think she’d make a great president or vice-president."
Mr. Trump, you are such an electric personality, there still will be many people in your corner even after those videos, but they will not be a majority of Americans and, safe to say, not a majority of women.
The chances of your winning the presidency will be nil. It is ironic that, of all the candidates in the course of this campaign, you are the only one with worse negatives than Hillary.
THE SOLUTION
You are not a quitter; you are a pragmatic realist and an expert negotiator. You are the only person in America who can pull this off.
You can negotiate to step down in favor of Mike Pence, [the man whom you chose as capable of assuming the presidency] on the condition that key points in your agenda are followed, particularly on the overriding issue in this campaign - the need to keep the Supreme Court from becoming a political captive of the Left. You will secure a commitment that Justice Scalia’s seat and future seats will be filled with persons with equal fidelity to the Constitution. No one else can obtain those assurances.
And no one else can persuade the millions of your followers to support your decision.
It sounds dramatic but it is the truth: at this point in time, you are the only one who can save us.
As you know, a key negotiation principle in deciding what to do in any given situation is to weigh one’s alternatives. Here are yours.
The man who lost to Hillary
If you continue your candidacy, you will be known forever as the only presidential nominee of a major party to lose to an opponent with the highest negatives in United States history – a candidate:
whom the FBI has proven a liar;
who invented insane tales ,e.g, her claim of heroism under sniper fire – a blatant lie;
whose incompetence caused the death of courageous Americans in Benghazi;
who lied to the parents of those killed that the cause was a video, while telling her daughter the truth that it was a terrorist act on the anniversary of 9/11;
who then had the coldhearted arrogance to suggest those parents were lying about what she said;
who, from the petty theft of White House property in 2000, graduated to the massive fraud of the Clinton Foundation, selling influence to foreign governments for the personal enrichment of the Clintons;
who has profited from Wall Street firms while she pretends to castigate them;
who has announced her intent to abandon Constitutional principles in favor of a Supreme Court dedicated to the political agenda of the Left.
Your legacy would be that of the man who enabled the dismantling of the American Republic.
Or
The man who sacrificed for his country
If you do step down, you become a unique heroic figure in American history: the man who successfully fought an uphill battle to win the nomination but, more than anyone else in the pantheon of political heroes, gave up his personal ambition to advance the interest of his country.
Only you can get this done. It would facilitate a dream ticket – Pence/Martinez would win in a landslide and get to work to achieving your and our goal – to make America great again.
At this point in time, you are the only man who can save our Republic.
Mr. Trump, I know you have the courage and ability to accomplish this.
Respectfully yours,
Richard M. Coleman
We are a nation that has a government - not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted to it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.
Ronald Reagan
© Richard M. Coleman 2016