Writer Nicole Coulter : How Trump Won Me Over

By Nicole O. Coulter

I didn’t start out supporting Donald Trump.

At first glance, he seemed loud, brusque – and not a serious contender in the presidential race. In fact, when he visited Phoenix, last summer and attracted 15,000 people to a mega-rally, I remember thinking … “Why are all these people so CRAZY about Donald Trump?” I mean, yeah, Trump Tower is impressive (I wandered into it during a recent visit to Central Park) and his kids are truly commendable (Ivanka is a savvy, poised businesswoman without a shred of entitlement) … but Trump for President?

Before the first debate, I had loosely decided to support Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – based on his Tea Party track record and victories over public sector unions. But shortly after the first debate – and Trump’s infamous exchange with Megyn Kelly, something changed.

I started listening to Trump.

I listened to his interviews, his rally speeches … and read his position papers. (There are five of them here.) And the more I learned about Trump, the more I liked him. He may have been a former Democrat (like myself) but there is no question that he is a diehard conservative on key issues and brings a wealth of private sector experience into a role that requires strong leadership.

The distractions (and distortions) Megyn Kelly raised were entertaining, but not really issues at all. In the fight to restore our nation’s greatness, what Trump said about Rosie O’Donnell after she insulted him first is completely irrelevant.

Trump, a wealthy businessman, has exposed the central problem of our time: Big money donors control our candidates – and it’s destroying our country. By self-funding, Trump can afford to be (and truly is) different. He can do the highly popular things that our leaders never seem to get around to doing (like closing the border and deporting illegal aliens). Like repealing Obamacare and opening up health insurance to nationwide markets.

By self-funding, he can freely pursue what is best for the American people – including a temporary halt on Muslim immigration – without worrying about the pearl-clutching donor class taking offense. That’s what the Tea Party was all about, in my opinion – fighting for the little guy, fighting for American values and rooting out political correctness as well as crony capitalism.

Our elected leaders – especially in the Republican party – have failed us. They’ve sold us out for the interests of big donors. And that has enabled open borders and unchecked trade and budget deficits.
Once you realize that nearly every single politician has a price – their words become hollow.

No matter how much they proclaim to be “conservative” no one in the GOP field is going to be as tough or bold as Trump in stopping illegal immigration. Why? Because their big money donors depend on cheap labor – not just cheap labor that we always imagine – i.e. the Mexican immigrants laboring in fields doing jobs that Americans supposedly “won’t do.” But higher-paying jobs in manufacturing, construction, services and technology.

Because Donald Trump raised the issue in his immigration position paper, I started paying attention to news articles about Americans losing their jobs to foreigners in the country on H1-B Visas. And I noticed that many of the candidates – including Sen. Cruz and Sen. Rubio – support increases in H1-B Visas, as well as significant increases in legal immigration. I’m not ok with that!

In many cases, tax-paying, law-abiding patriotic Americans are being forced to train their “cheaper” foreign replacements. That’s not right!

Before moving to Phoenix, we lived in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and I recall reading in the newspaper about how the Hershey Company was shipping most of its chocolate manufacturing to Mexico – and many of the remaining jobs in Pennsylvania were being done by Eastern Europeans – who, ironically, had decided to go on strike for better wages and benefits! Companies know they can pay foreigners much less than their American counterparts – all while taking advantage of our schizophrenic “system” that punishes them for hiring American – and incentivizes corporations to park their earnings overseas! Companies shouldn’t be able to dump American workers and import foreigners when there are 90 million Americans out of the labor force!

Donald Trump wants to make America Great Again. And there’s no way we’re going to be great again if the middle class keeps getting the rug pulled out from under them. Most of the 13 million job gains since Obama took office have gone to foreigners, while the number of Americans on food stamps has doubled, and the labor participation rate is at 40-year-lows.

Trump wants to lower our corporate tax rate to be more competitive. This will allow American companies to hire American workers. He wants to reduce the number of H1-B Visas and build a border wall. He wants to encourage health insurance competition – to make coverage more affordable for individuals and companies.

I believe that once more people start listening to Trump, he will win them over, too. I’ve never seen such enthusiasm like the energy I felt at a recent Trump rally in Mesa, Arizona, in December. What had once seemed unfathomable to me – Trump for President – has now become a very real and hopeful possibility.

Nicole Coulter is a veteran trade journalist and Recovering Democrat. She was a contributing writer on Conservatives4Palin.com, and is the founding editor of Conservatives4Congress.com and EdgyConservative.com. She co-hosts a weekly blog radio show on politics and the culture.