Talk:Conservative of the Year 2016

This is a very strong list this year!--Andy Schlafly (talk) 23:48, 10 November 2016 (EST)

Pros and Cons of the two finalists

Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, for which there is immense gratitude, but he has not yet chosen his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Phyllis Schlafly supported and helped elect Trump, secured the most conservative Republican platform in history in Cleveland in July 2016, and laid the groundwork for the stunning outcome in 1964 with her classic book A Choice Not An Echo--Andy Schlafly (talk) 20:53, 23 December 2016 (EST)

The Nobel Prize was wrongfully given by liberals to Barack Obama for merely winning an election. Should the standards of Conservapedia fall to that low level of liberals??--Andy Schlafly (talk) 00:19, 24 December 2016 (EST)

Trump holds many conservative positions and right of center positions. He has been a tremendous ally of conservatives and will probably move the nation in a more conservative direction than many leading conservatives. He is probably going to move the Supreme Court to the right. At the same time, his views on homosexuality are not conservative. In terms of reducing the Federal deficit, like Ronald Reagan, he may fall short in this area.

In short, Trump is not a conservative. He is a right of center politician and businessman. Therefore, Phyllis Schlafly should be the Conservapedia's Conservative of the Year in 2016. Conservative (talk) 16:57, 24 December 2016 (EST)

The main reason why I nominated Trump was not because he was the GOP nominee (I did so before the election), but because he stood up so strong against the leftist consensus in the nation concerning political correctness, open borders, the mainstream media, and free trade. He has done and said things (breaking Jimmy Carter's One China policy, appointing very conservative people that the media and leftists are hysteric over, etc.) that people like Romney, McCain, or Kasich would have never even thought of doing. I think Trump will be a change-maker, and that his change will be in a (at least overall) conservative direction. He will do much more change than Reagan.

With his cabinet for example, Trump has chosen a cabinet that is probably much more conservative than Reagan's. It is true that Trump's positions on social issues are not conservative or Christian. That is unfortunate. Still, however, both candidates are strong, so I will not vote, at least for now I'm just writing this just so people know that we are not considering Trump just because he won the election. There is a lot of substance behind this nomination, despite his obvious flaws. --1990'sguy (talk) 21:07, 24 December 2016 (EST)

The above points are excellent. Another way to view the two finalists is this: Trump has obtained a fabulous opportunity to achieve many conservative goals, but those goals still need to be achieved. Phyllis Schlafly achieved conservative goals, of which electing Trump was one.--Andy Schlafly (talk) 21:57, 24 December 2016 (EST)

Trump has been a boon to Conservapedia's web traffic.

On the publishing/newspaper fronts, the left is collapsing. By going all out against Trump and saying he couldn't possibly win the election, the mainstream media really damaged themselves. In addition, the liberal newspaper owners/managers are not engaging in self-reflection and learning from their mistakes instead they are doubling down.

I think most of Trump's efforts will be on freeing up business to better make money and gain investments. And illegal immigration will also be a focus.

Trump's pick of Betsy DeVos (a creationist and evangelical Christian) for the position of the head of the U.S. Department of Education, is a sign that Trump wants to butter the bread of the religious right who helped him get elected. But DeVos seems to focus on charter schools and I don't know how much liberty charter schools have in terms of their curriculum. Private religious schools being empowered by school voucher program is a better alternative. In Belgium, families are given a school voucher and they can use that voucher at a school of their choice.

I know tinkering with the American educational system has been an abysmal failure for decades. Reforming it is a herculean tasks in terms of potential political battles. With 70% of children being indoctrinated by public schools and the lefts control of higher education, this is a stronghold that the right has made little progress on. Given the amount of hours that children spend in schools, this is a major problem. Trump has the chutzpah to go after the public schools, but I am not sure he has a strong interest in doing so. Time will tell.

Another open question is how the Trump administration will handle legal immigration. Will legal immigration policies try to attract higher skilled immigrants? What will be Trump's policy on the level of legal immigration that is occurring. This political hot potato was not significantly addressed during the election. Conservative (talk) 22:28, 24 December 2016 (EST)

Are there any newspaper articles confirming that Betsy DeVos is a creationist? Apparently her school choice program in Michigan does fund charter schools that might teach creationism, as it should.--Andy Schlafly (talk) 20:00, 25 December 2016 (EST)

Mike Pence is a conservative, evangelical Christian (or an evangelical Catholic, as I've read in some sources). Trump may not be a social conservative or a Christian, but he definitely has chosen to surround himself with such. --1990'sguy (talk) 21:23, 25 December 2016 (EST)

Andy, I just have this article which mentions her husband: Husband Of Trump’s Education Secretary Once Promoted Intelligent Design In Schools. Conservative (talk) 04:52, 26 December 2016 (EST)

Thanks, that helps.--Andy Schlafly (talk) 22:28, 29 December 2016 (EST)

And the winner is ... still another day for voting, but based on the comments above, so far Phyllis Schlafly is edging out Donald Trump for "Conservative of the Year 2016."--Andy Schlafly (talk) 22:28, 29 December 2016 (EST)

Question

For the runners-up, will they be ordered from most to least conservative, or in no particular order? --1990'sguy (talk) 21:08, 24 December 2016 (EST)

Please order the runners-up as you think best! Thanks.--Andy Schlafly (talk) 21:50, 24 December 2016 (EST)