This week's GOP primary elections give me hope that Trumpism will die with Trump. Both McCain and Rubio faced opponents who attacked them from the alt-right perspective and were cheer-led by Breitbart, and both cruised to victory. Same with Paul Ryan whose Trump-clone opponent was kicked firmly in the ass.
The Republican electorate is still, I believe, mostly composed of decent, thinking folks. Trumpism is more and more looking like an aberration, a cult of personality, an appeal to the weak-minded seeking easy answers.
That's why I'm so adamant in opposing Trump. As sink has put it, a stake needs to be driven through the heart of the beast, SO CONSERVATISM CAN SURVIVE. I wish there were another way, but I'll take four years of Clinton to the death of conservatism.
Many good conservatives are resigned to "settling" for Trump. And to be sure, Trump is the worst Pubbie candidate to settle for I've ever seen.
Many Trumpists make the false claim that we have to vote for Trump because they voted/settled for "our" candidates i.e. McCain and Romney. It's false because many conservatives settled for those two like they will for Trump. But I'll easily take both those two moderate Republicans over someone like Trump who only recently discovered "conservatism."
Actually, Trump doesn't even pretend to be or have turned into a conservative. He is what he is....a conman who got in front of an issue dear to conservatives (illegal immigration) and rode it all the way to the Republican presidential nomination.
I might yet cast my vote for Trump holding my nose all the way in and out of the voting booth. Then scrub myself off with lye when I get home.
But you raise a very good question....will voting for Trump delay the march of leftism until a better candidate can be found in four or eight years, or will a Trump presidency kill off the conservative movement forever or at least long enough to ensure the complete takeover by the leftists?
I'll admit to being undecided about that question. As much as I loathe Trump, I loathe Hillary Clinton more. Which danger could the country withstand better? I don't know.