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.
All the folks casting aspersions upon Trump as a conservative AND YET such notable conservatives as Jeff Sessions and Ted Cruz have supported Trump.
"The greatest benefit--so far--from the explosive Trump campaign, is this. For 50 years, the Left has carefully been constructing what we have called a "politically correct" mindset, for at least the last twenty of those years. It is a psychological structure, based upon the compulsion of Leftwing neurotics for uniformity of thought; but it has also infested the minds of much of the general population, now obviously afraid to bring down on their heads the hysterical gobblings of those Leftwing neurotics.
"Trump has demonstrated that throwing off that induced culture of fear, can be a lot of fun. It is contagious. It may well grow into a popular sport. It may ultimately prove the one thing that will finally stop the momentum that is destroying the America that we love and cherish. Think about it."
Trump has another important advantage over any of the other candidates, in either party. He has a celebrity following that is not ideological. He will garner votes from people none of the only ideological candidates will reach.
Now it is, in my opinion, too early to commit to any candidate; but it seems largely devolving into a choice between Trump & Cruz, and I thank God every day for both of them.