{"id":1368,"date":"2015-08-20T23:44:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T03:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2015-08-20T23:44:43","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T03:44:43","slug":"trump-is-no-conservative-but-neither-is-carly-fiorina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2015\/08\/trump-is-no-conservative-but-neither-is-carly-fiorina.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump is No Conservative But Neither Is…Carly Fiorina!"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I argued<\/a> a few weeks ago, there are reasons for doubting Donald Trump\u2019s conservative bona fides. But those of his critics at Fox News and in some quarters of \u201cconservative\u201d talk radio who level this charge against him are disingenuous, for neither are their<\/em> candidates of choice conservative.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already shown that Jeb Bush<\/a> and Marco Rubio<\/a>, to name but two notable examples, are certainly not conservative.<\/p>\n

But neither is rising GOP star Carly Fiorina a conservative.<\/p>\n

There isn\u2019t remotely as much in the way of a political record on which to judge Fiorina as there is available for judging the professional politicians who comprise the bulk of the GOP\u2019s presidential candidates. However, since Trump\u2019s equally thin resume in this regard hasn\u2019t prevented the Charles Krauthammers and George Wills from judging him, <\/em>we are indeed in a position to determine whether Fiorina is a genuine conservative.<\/p>\n

To begin with, Fiorina is no different than your conventional Republican (not conservative, <\/em>but Republican<\/em>) in claiming to be \u201cpro-life\u201d while simultaneously championing a woman\u2019s right to kill her child in circumstances of rape, incest, and her own health<\/a>. This inconsistent, phony baloney position must be seen for the species of double talk that it is.<\/p>\n

If abortion is immoral, then presumably it is immoral because it is immoral to intentionally kill <\/em>innocent human lives\u2014whether they are growing inside or outside of their mothers\u2019 wombs. Thus, morally speaking, the circumstances in which an innocent human being was conceived are utterly irrelevant to its moral standing.<\/p>\n

And even if this innocent human being, the woman\u2019s child, inadvertently poses a threat to that woman\u2019s well-being, it is still far from obvious how this can suddenly justify a mother\u2019s decision to kill her child.<\/p>\n

If Carly Fiorina (and most other Republicans) are \u201cpro-life\u201d despite permitting abortion in these <\/em>circumstances, then \u201cpro-choice\u201d Democrats who favor abortion only after the first trimester, say, are also \u201cpro-life\u201d for allowing abortion only under this <\/em>circumstance.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, if Democrats are \u201cpro-choice\u201d because they do allow abortion under some circumstances, then Fiorina (and most Republicans) are \u201cpro-choice\u201d for allowing abortion under some circumstances.<\/p>\n

Another curious fact is that Fiorina supports<\/a> embryonic stem cell research<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Christian Coalition voter guide is designed to \u201ceducate tens of millions of citizens across this nation as to where candidates for office stand on key faith and family issues.\u201d In 2010, they asked a slew of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents<\/em>, like Fiorina, whether they supported or opposed \u201chuman embryonic stem cell research.\u201d Fiorina received the grade of \u00a0\u201c2-,\u201d which meant that she \u201cstrongly\u201d opposed<\/a> prohibiting this research.<\/p>\n

During a debate with Barbara Boxer five years ago, Fiorina indicated her belief in \u201cglobal warming.\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe should always have the courage to examine the science,\u201d Fiorina said when asked whether she believed that \u201cglobal warming\u201d was real. She followed this up by adding that \u201call scientists agree\u201d that \u201cthe only way to impact global warming is to act globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a politically brilliant move\u2014even if it is intellectually dishonest and more than a bit cowardly: Fiorina, while trying to evade staking out a strong position on this issue, manages to tacitly affirm both <\/em>the reality of \u201cglobal warming\u201d and <\/em>the idea that it is supported by a consensus of scientists!<\/p>\n

Of course, it is simply false that \u201call scientists agree\u201d on what to do about \u201cglobal warming,\u201d just like it is simply false that all scientists agree that there even is this imminent catastrophe that is anthropogenic global warming.<\/p>\n

When Fiorina was asked about her stance via \u201cProposition 23,\u201d a ballot measure that would\u2019ve suspended California\u2019s law on \u201cglobal warming\u201d until unemployment dropped to 5.5% or lower for four consecutive quarters, she refused to take one<\/a>. Barbara Boxer (of all people!) was correct when she retorted: \u201cIf you can\u2019t take a stand on Prop. 23 I don\u2019t know what you will take a stand on.\u201d<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the only time that Boxer and Fiorina agreed\u2014even if their agreement wasn\u2019t explicit. However, Fiorina explicitly agreed<\/a><\/em> with Boxer when it came to the DREAM Act\u2014which Boxer co-sponsored.<\/p>\n

Fiorina, in other words, supported allowing illegal immigrant adolescents and adults to remain in the country as long as they entered either college or the military.<\/p>\n

When it is considered that Fiorina just recently spoke out against Trump\u2019s immigration plan to repeal \u201cBirthright Citizenship\u201d laws, bogusly claiming (as Ann Coulter notes<\/a>) that such laws are Constitutional vis-\u00e0-vis the 14th<\/sup> Amendment, then Fiorina\u2019s support of the DREAM Act isn\u2019t at all surprising.<\/p>\n

One thing that we shouldn\u2019t overlook is that although Fiorina now <\/em>challenges Hillary Clinton to \u201cname an accomplishment<\/a>\u201d for which the latter can take credit, back in 2008, Fiorina lavished praise upon Hillary<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Senator Clinton, Fiorina said, was \u201cincredibly intelligent\u201d and \u201cdetermined.\u201d \u201cI have such great admiration and empathy for Hillary Clinton,\u201d Fiorina remarked. Hillary is \u201cempathetic of all the tens of millions of people that she was trying to represent in her quest to become the first woman president of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiorina said that, \u201cas a woman,\u201d she took \u201cgreat pride in the fact that Hillary Clinton ran for president,\u201d and she \u201cwatched with a lot of empathy as I saw how she was scrutinized, characterized, talked about as a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillary, in Fiorina\u2019s judgment, got an unfair shake because of her gender.<\/p>\n

Fiorina also claimed that Hillary\u2019s \u201crun for the presidency was historic. She was a great candidate.\u201d Hillary \u201chas helped millions of women all over this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this reason, Fiorina concluded that \u201cwomen of any political party owe a debt of gratitude to Hillary Clinton [.]\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump may not be a conservative. But Carly Fiorina definitely is not.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I argued a few weeks ago, there are reasons for doubting Donald Trump\u2019s conservative bona fides. But those of his critics at Fox News and in some quarters of \u201cconservative\u201d talk radio who level this charge against him are disingenuous, for neither are their candidates of choice conservative. I\u2019ve already shown that Jeb Bush…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump is No Conservative But Neither Is...Carly Fiorina!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2015\/08\/trump-is-no-conservative-but-neither-is-carly-fiorina.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump is No Conservative But Neither Is...Carly Fiorina!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I argued a few weeks ago, there are reasons for doubting Donald Trump\u2019s conservative bona fides. 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