Dear Editor:

Is Donald Trump’s candidacy more about his recent support of conservative issues or more about promoting Donald Trump and his own ego?

While anyone seriously running for the presidency would be expected to have a high opinion of their own capabilities and an ego to match, we might ask ourselves is Trump really serious about the issues he now espouses?

Having watched and listened to Donald Trump over the years, Trump had always seemed to be most interested in making money and promoting his own intelligence and talents. We have all known smart and talented people and it often appeared to me that the genuinely smartest and most talented people don’t have to keep telling others how smart and talented they were for that was obvious based on what they said and more importantly did.

Offhand I can’t think of anyone who proclaims how smart he/she is more than Donald Trump. Other than being the successful wheeler-dealer business man that has made him rich (and I’ll give him credit for that), and his obvious talent for self promotion, who or what is he with the background to suggest he would be a good president? Is money making ability enough?

Only now Donald Trump champions a number of conservative causes. Does he really have a long term track record of having strongly supported theses causes? When and where has he worked to promote these positions before seeking the Republican nomination?

To some it might appear that Trump is only using these issues and the anger that many of us feel toward government for his own selfish purpose - to feed his own overinflated ego and become president. Is he just duping us all? After all, as he says, he is so very smart – might he think of common folk as dummies to be duped and sold a bill of goods?

So, I ask again, is Trump’s candidacy really about issues or more about feeding the Trump ego?

Jerry Topinka

Boothbay Harbor