Why Do Top Conservatives Pardon Trump, but Condemn Rubio?

By Deroy Murdock

Monday, February 1, 2016

As Alexander Pope once said, “To err is human, to forgive divine.” One of the most puzzling developments in Campaign 2016 is the extent to which rock-ribbed conservatives will forgive real-estate tycoon Donald Trump’s many years of liberal, pro-Democratic activism and financial support. All of that falls away as they rush to endorse his buoyant, insurgent candidacy.

In contrast, Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) has been a stalwart conservative, both as a state legislator and as a member of the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body. But that means nothing when it comes to forgiving him for his one act of apostasy — his membership in the bipartisan Gang of Eight that attempted to reform America’s immigration laws.

Evidently, forgiveness gets you only so far.

Jonathan Rothenberg — a friend, financier, and fledgling conservative thinker — summarizes this well:

    If an ethanol subsidy, auto bailout and TARP-supporter; Charlie Crist fundraiser; Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton donor; eminent-domain abuser; Vladimir Putin admirer; convert on abortion, guns, Obamacare, and taxes suddenly in his late 60s; object of affection of Bob Dole, Trent Lott, and a growing list of K Street lobbyists; and man for whom individual liberty based on constitutionally restrained government plays no role in whatever his core principles are is somehow a conservative insurgent against the establishment, then the words “conservative,” “insurgent,” and “establishment” no longer have meaning. How Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Phyllis Schlafly, and others fell for this huckster — whose only credentials are doing deals (i.e., compromises, political payoffs, and insider access in smoke-filled back rooms) — as some kind of conservative purist who won’t go wobbly is beyond me.

Rothenberg’s rant means nothing to conservative luminaries who have waved aside these felonies in the Right-Wing Rulebook and jumped in, skulls first, for Trump.

“My ideal ticket is Trump/Romney,” Coulter told MSNBC’s Liz Mair. “That’s what I’m really hoping for. That’s a dynamite combination.”

“We need a businessman,” said Jerry Falwell Jr., as he endorsed Trump. “We need somebody besides a career politician, somebody who has been in the real world.”

Schlafly told Breitbart, “Trump is the only hope to defeat the Kingmakers.”

Just like that, Trump’s freshly abandoned support for causes they hate means nothing. Ditto his current enthusiasm for universal government health care — normally not a conservative deal-killer, quite simply because it never gets that far. It’s a conservative non-starter.

But, for many of these people, such forgiveness does not extend to Rubio. His “one night of sin” with the rest of the Gang of Eight has relegated him to eternal hellfire. Immigration, no doubt, is a vital issue. Having been burned on it, one would think a President Rubio, with a presumably Republican Congress, would not walk anywhere near the Cliffs of Amnesty again.

Beyond  being re-educable on immigration, Rubio would be a reliable and energetic leader on every other issue that matters to conservatives.

As for Trump, yes. He promises his Great Wall of America across the southern frontier. Given that it’s now little more than a north-bound fast lane, tighter border security is a must.

But where will Trump land on the rest of the conservative agenda? Why such deep trust in someone whose conversion to the Right still bears a Wet Paint sign?

As the people finally go to the polls, starting tonight in Iowa, it might be helpful for voters to remember what outside groups think about Rubio, according to their most recent ratings:

• American Family Association — 100

• American Security Council — 100

• Americans for Prosperity — 100

• Concerned Women for America — 100

• Family Research Council — 100

• Freedom Works — 100

• National Federation of Independent Business — 100

• National Right to Life Committee — 100

• National Tax Limitation Committee — 100

• Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council — 100

• American Federation of Teachers — 0

• Americans for Democratic Action — 0

• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence — 0

• Environment America — 0

• Irregular Times/Liberal Action — 0

• League of Conservation Voters — 0

• NARAL/Pro-Choice America — 0

• National Education Association — 0

• Peace Action West — 0

• Planned Parenthood Action Fund — 0

Somehow, despite his sterling record, some conservatives who should know better offer Rubio no forgiveness and Trump something approaching beatification.

Go figure.