by Rod D. Martin
May 9, 2016

It is easy to make the case that Trump is no conservative (whether or not that’s true), though to be perfectly honest, it’s hard to know whether Trump has any fixed beliefs other than the greater glory of Donald Trump. He certainly seems patriotic, which is a great improvement over Obama, Clinton or Sanders, although patriotism by itself has potential to take some very ugly forms.

What I cannot understand is the belief of some of my friends that Donald Trump is a ringer. As someone who’s called every move Trump’s made correctly this entire year, I believe I’ve earned the credibility to tell you, these folks are letting their frustration get the best of them.

Everyone agrees that Trump has an enormous ego. He is utterly driven by his desire to compete and win. Indeed, it’s not enough for him to defeat an opponent: he feels he needs to crush them.

Don’t believe me? Just look at February. Trump could have easily put the nomination away the day Scalia died. He was ahead, he had momentum, the tide was turning his way, and he had not horrified Ted’s supporters yet as he proceeded to do in March.

Had Trump announced that Cruz would be his pick to replace Scalia, at least a third of Ted’s support would have instantly defected to Trump in an effort to have their cake and eat it too. Few believed at that moment that Ted had any real path forward. His second ballot strategy had not yet entered the public discourse. Cruz as a Supreme Court justice was simply too good to pass up.

Trump knew this. Trump’s people knew this.

But what did Trump actually do? He went scorched-earth on Ted. Because Trump has to win. The man has a psychological need not merely to beat his opponent but to stand triumphant over that opponent, rip open his chest, and eat his still-beating heart.

There is absolutely nothing in this world that Hillary Clinton could give Donald Trump – much less that he would ever trust her to give him – that he is not within inches of taking for himself. And more to the point, he is driven to do so: he does not want it from her hand. And if, as many believe, he is truly misogynistic, then crushing her will only add to his joy.

Donald Trump is no ringer. He may blow this election, sure. But he will do absolutely everything in his considerable power to utterly annihilate Hillary Clinton, to smash her against the rocks. He will fight her with every fiber of his being.

Trump wants nothing less than to be the entire planet’s alpha male. There is but one weak, sickly, highly unpopular woman between him and achieving that.

Yeah, he’s going for it.