Trump's ideal running mate: Pat Buchanan

A Donald Trump presidency would be defined by the company it keeps. Voters would expect his administration to deliver on immigration cleanup, America First economic nationalism, a re-evaluation of foreign aid and a reversal of the moral decline blamed on the Beltway critters. We could use a strong vice president to keep an eye on the chief executive. Somebody with solid right credentials, who knows the landscape, who can speak well with struggling Americans and help counter establishment attacks.

Enter my choice in Patrick J. Buchanan, a Republican icon and prolific commentator. He recently wrote that while the GOP appears headed for a train wreck in Cleveland, the principal ingredients of a Republican victory and a Republican future will all be present there: Ted Cruz conservatives and tea party types, Trump nationalists and populists, Rubio-Kasich-Bush centrists and moderates.

 

The big tent needs new acts and Buchanan has been working toward this most his life. He was a newspaperman championing the rising Barry Goldwater in 1964 when party leader lib-mods Rockefeller-Romney-Scranton withheld support. Out of the ashes of Goldwater's November defeat came the rebirth of conservatism. Buchanan as a speechwriter and adviser would go on to serve Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

 

I supported Buchanan in his three presidential insurgencies and remember how many conservatives were fearful of “wasting” a vote for an underdog. So look what we've had in office since 1992.