Keep in mind that without Trump, Jeb Bush would now be the frontrunner with illegal immigration as an issue on the backburner.
Keep in mind that there are fifteen candidates other than Trump or Bush in the field, several of whom I could support. For me, Trump is at the bottom of the list, at best tied for last.
I don’t think so. Without Trump posing as the “conservative” one of the other conservative candidates would be frontrunner. Ask yourself, as a Trumpie, if you would support Jeb if Trump wasn’t running? You know you wouldn’t. So why would you think Jeb would be frontrunner, as if all Trump’s supporters would join Jeb’s bandwagon instead of someone else’s? Would all of us out here craving the idea of ripping the RINOs new arseholes suddenly choose a RINO if we couldn’t pick Trump? Of course not.
Trump’s there to kill off the most conservative candidates... think of him as the DNC’s insurance policy if Hillary collapses.