In 2008: I had no preference other than to defeat Hillary or Obama.
I held my nose and voted McCain. I loved Sarah Palin.
In 2012: I voted to defeat Obama, held my nose and voted for a ham sandwich with mustard, and I hate mustard on ham. I thought any ham sandwich would beat Obama in 2012.
In 2016: Before the field was established, I was hoping Scott Walker would get into the race and support him. That was an abysmal failure to watch which pointed me towards Cruz or Trump. After watching Iowa and subsequent campaigns, I realized Cruz was a slimeball and went with Trump all the way.
Interesting, a lot of early Trump supporters like you and I were walker fans.