Mahoning County Republican chairman: America needs Donald Trump

By Mark Munroe

Special to The Vindicator

I attended the first GOP debate in Cleveland and remember thinking, what a terrific, diverse group of candidates: black, white,

Hispanic, seasoned

politicians, business leaders and a woman. I would have been proud to support any one of them. I had my personal favorite, our governor, John

Kasich, who as a congressman displayed

enormous skill and determination to lead our country to adopt its first balanced budget since man walked on the moon.

Donald Trump has these same characteristics. He’s a leader, he’s a fighter, and maybe our country can have another revolution. Not with pitchforks and knives, but a political revolution. Americans are angry at Washington, which has become an out-of-control, gargantuan monster swallowing our tax dollars, accumulating massive debt and interfering in almost every aspect of our lives.

For too long we have nominated or elected

Republicans who are very good at saying the right things, but have failed to get elected or have been elected and haven’t done the job of moving the country in a new direction. McCain, Romney, some members of Congress and even presidents have said the right things at election time, but in the end, Washington has continued to choke the American spirit.

After two terms of President Obama, we have one of the weakest economic recoveries, a health care system turned on its head, a shrinking military, a confused foreign policy and a war being fought against an enemy we can’t even name.

We have been through a bruising primary election season, and one thing is clear: Trump is a fighter

and a winner. He has tapped into the American heartland and earned more Republican primary votes than anyone in history. Here in Mahoning County, so many unaffiliated or Democratic voters turned out to support Trump that Republican

registration has more than doubled. Leading up to the March primary, I took calls from voters asking how to become a Republican. As I talked to them, it was clear that Trump was not just their preference, but that they were really excited by his candidacy. Jobs, bad trade deals, the economy, failure to secure the border and a shrinking military were common themes. Among Democrats who were switching, the biggest complaint was that the Democratic Party had become so foreign to their core beliefs that they had to switch, and Trump provided just the spark they needed to do it.

Meanwhile, the Democrats were choosing

between an elderly socialist and a woman who more properly belongs in the big house, not the White House.

It’s true that Trump is not your usual politician, and that’s why America needs him. Hillary Clinton and probably some of the other GOP contenders, except John Kasich, of course, would continue the status quo in some form or another. Trump may sometimes say things that turn heads, but that’s part of his appeal. We have given up on smooth- talking politicians who focus on saying things rather than doing things, and Trump has demonstrated that he can get things done. Will it be easy in Washington? No, of course not, but America is crying out for someone who can get the job done. Even more important, we can’t have Hillary

picking our next Supreme Court justices.

So while Trump was not my first choice, today he is my choice, and we need him to shake the system to its very core. As for the 20,000 new Republican

voters in Mahoning County, they are welcome in our party. Visit us at our new GOP office at 8381 Market St. in Boardman.

Let’s work together to make America and the Valley great again.

Mark E. Munroe is chairman of the Mahoning County Republican Party.