[M1911A1]

It would be a lot easier if Trump had a proven track record as a conservative thinker.

However, consider this. Trump is going to get a lot of conservative support simply because he is not GOPe. He will get some Republican support from those who admire his get things done reputation.

If he had a long, published track record as a conservative, I doubt he could get support from voters who supported the Blue Dog Dems, and those working class Democrats who are dismayed at what Obama hath wrought on the border, and who are not comfortable with the leftward lurch of the party.

Yeah, he has been incoherent and has done a lot of “evolving” recently. In normal times I’d shy away from somebody like Trump, but these are not normal times. If something doesn’t happen to dismantle the GOPe machine, they are going to sell out conservatism for cheap labor and a voting block that will make conservatives irrelevant for a generation.

Trump is a bit of a snake oil salesman to someone like me used to voting for the most conservative GOP offering. I hope Cruz has truly left the GOP reservation, but how can we be sure? Carly? No way. Walker? Jeb with better patter.

It’s Trump’s dubious magic elixir or the hemlock that the Uniparty is pushing on us.

[papertyger]

It would be a lot easier if Trump had a proven track record as a conservative thinker.

I'd say his penchant for "getting things done" and his alignment with us proves he knows who the "makers" and the "takers" are, and who is most likely to support his vision.

[nathanbedford]

If something doesn’t happen to dismantle the GOPe machine, they are going to sell out conservatism for cheap labor and a voting block that will make conservatives irrelevant for a generation.

And they will make the Constitution permanently irrelevant.

The question is whether Trump is the only alternative to the Republican establishment. In other words, only days ago we feared that the nomination was going over the old route trod by Dole, McCain, and Romney to Jeb but now it appears that Jeb missed his chance unless his money can salvage his campaign which seems unlikely going up against $15 billion. So the issue is no longer we must take Trump or we get Jeb because Jeb is less of a factor.

We don't need Trump, Ted Cruz will do very nicely against the GOPe machine because it is a proven warrior against them.

[ebshumidors]

Conservative? What exactly is that these days? I’d be happy with an American nationalist.

[Windflier]

It would be a lot easier if Trump had a proven track record as a conservative thinker. However, consider this. Trump is going to get a lot of conservative support simply because he is not GOPe. He will get some Republican support from those who admire his get things done reputation.

I think that's it, in a nutshell.

So many millions of Americans have kept faith with the promise of the Framers, but have watched helplessly as class after class of their supposed "conservative leaders" have proven to have much greater allegiance to Power, and the almighty Buck, than the timeless Principles which undergird the real power and promise of this nation.

Conservatism, you say? What is that, but hewing to those hard won lessons that humans have learned the hard way, through eons of struggle to survive? It's nothing more than common sense. The simple understanding of that which works, as opposed to that which doesn't.

Does Donald Trump operate within the wisdom of common human experience? You bet he does. It's why he's been so successful in his business endeavors over the last few decades. The man is smart enough to see what's plainly before his eyes, which, oddly enough, seems to be an extraordinary skill in this era.

He's poisonous to the GOP-e. They're attempting to sell the American people a lie - much as their 'friends on the other side of the aisle' are doing. He exposes the putrid falsehoods promulgated by these cretins, who would deign to trick us into thinking they have our best interests at heart, when they do not.

The man has lived the example he's pitching to the rest of us. He's worked hard, and has reaped the reward for giving it his all.

You bet we admire that. It's a huge subset of the support he's drawing at this time. Americans recognize a hard working man when they see one, and applaud the success of one of their own who's 'made it' the right way.

Bottom line, there are few candidates who can even hope to compete with, or equal, the core American principles and standards that this man represents.