But for those that will sit out this election due to butt hurt, just keep in mind the next President will likely nominate 4 SC Justices, and appoint several other judges to various courts.

My guy lost, I understand that. I accept that. It's now Trump's job to convince me why I should vote for him, not my duty to get behind him. He isn't entitled to my vote, he has to earn it. If I choose not vote for either and write someone in, that's not sitting out and that's not being "butt hurt", as you say. That's me utilizing my vote to signify that I do not want either candidate.

Thanks for your input, Eddie, much appreciated.

As this unfolds over the next few months, we will come to know Trump much better.  We already know  everything we need to know about Hillary.

We will able to tell a lot about the Donald by who he chooses for advisors, who will be in his cabinet, who he announces he will wants for the Court, who he wants for VP.  He may just not be the loose cannon many fear.

It's 1980 all over again. Reagan was stupid, enept and didn't know anything, he was an actor for god's sake!  Reagan will be another Hitler.  Reagan will start WW3.  Doom and Gloom.

Ted Cruz doesn't have a Kasich problem, he has a Ted Cruz problem. 

And a Rafael Cruz problem, and a Heidi Cruz problem, and a Carly Fiorina problem, and a Glenn Beck problem, and a dirty-tricks campaigning problem, and so on.  Kasich and his delusion are pretty far down the list of problems Cruz is facing (I think Kasich actually needs medical treatment, he is bat-shit crazy, literally Bernie Sanders territory crazy).

Cruz is not engaging enough, he is a rigid idealogue with very thin skin - to me the more I hear him the more he comes off as a weird mix of that kid in school who thought he knew more than everybody else and Mr. Haney from Green Acres.  If he only communicated in the written word it might be better but his voice, mannerisms and overall tenor when speaking is severely off-putting for me.  As I have said before, I really wanted to like him but I find his conservatism to be one of opportunity and his approach to campaigning to be distasteful.

Trump is certainly not a better big 'C' conservative but he is a far better candidate if you want to measure by votes gathered, coverage gained, or crossover appeal - all of which the establishment class and the consultants have been saying for decades are what the Republicans need to win - well, here is a guy delivering on those needs - and he is using the most powerful chapter out of the other teams' playbook, hit first, hit hard, move on.  And taken on whole I believe his life's body of work suggests a pragmatic political conservatism with some social liberalism and with a protectionist bent - I don't agree with him on everything, but I don't need to.

Cruz's campaign for months now has not been about outright victory, it has been to come in second and then work the backroom deals and delegate math for 2nd, 3rd or 4th votes in a contested convention - that is a loser's strategery in my opinion and as more of the logic and approach in play has come to light I believe it has not only hurt him as a candidate and damaged the Republican brand through perceived trickery (I know it is acceptable, pointing out the perception), it is damaging the trust we all need to have in the selection process (although it is worse for the Dem's with their soooperdelegate BS IMO) and it is now causing these supposed 'loyal' delegates themselves to question whether or not this plan will irreparably damage the party (I believe it will end the Republican party as a national party).

I'm not going to defend every dumb thing Trump has said anymore than I did for W, but of the remaining candidates he is my choice - not the best choice, but the one I can vote FOR, for my own reasons and beliefs.  Nobody has to agree with me although it is tiresome to not only have to deal with the ever so predictable railings of the professionally agitated loonies on the Left, but to now also have to deal with the same #nevertrump madness from the likes of George Will, the RINO establishment or even some of the other Conservatives on this site.

I may be able to pull the lever AGAINST Hillary if Cruz legitimately ends up the nominee through letter-of-the-law 'legal' chicanery, but if the establishment installs someone else entirely I'm sitting it out and will as I have said before, let it all burn and just focus on taking care of me and mine.

'Gimp

I have a gut-level revulsion for Trump.

But to be fair, those polls are before Trump gets going on Hillary, and the influence of any debates going forward.

We'll just have to wait and see...

This phobia of third world migration is partly why conservatives struggle. Yes, they speak a different language when they show up. Some of my relatives spoke German and French. Two generations in and we barely even know how to say hello in French, or German. The same appears to be happening with the Latinos.

The problem isn't that there are lots of immigrants, the problem is immigrants have a hard time identifying with conservatives and threads like this illustrate why. Not a lot of love for them. Just talk of walls and bitching about them.

The conservatives, whether it be GOP or some other pure group, will have a near impossible time of it because they can't even win over majorities of white and black voters that were born here and have been here for generations. It's too bad conservatives can't get it together because the Latinos, particularly Mexicans could be a much easier sell then many other immigrants. They very much respect the self reliant cowboy ethic, they are great entrepreneurs, they are largely all very Christian and they have a long history with firearms ownership.

Unfortunately, many view them as untrustworthy, lazy parasites and that image couldn't be further from the truth. Clearly they are trust worthy because they make up more and more of work crews everywhere. They show up on time, work all day and don't steal any worse than any other group. Clearly they're not lazy, you see groups of them hanging around in parking lots of Home Depot looking for work. Do you see whites and blacks doing that?? No! They also circulate the neighborhoods leaving business cards for landscape and other manual labor services.

Are they really parasites? They do take advantage of social services whenever they are eligible and they pay taxes. Long term unemployment is not as socially accepted for them as much as it is for whites and blacks. They have community pressure to get a job and get to work. They do have a lot of babies, just like their Bible and their Pope tell them to and these babies can be a drain on social programs. Large families are a cultural norm for Latinos and this only changes with time and education, particularly education of the women.

I personally think the GOP is blowing it big time by not courting the new Latino population, but how can they when their base is so hard on them and all about building walls?

Whether you are intentionally playing the word games of the left, or unintentionally because it has been so ingrained by the left and its complaint media, you are facilitating the misunderstanding of conservatives.

Conservatives welcome immigrants. Conservatives know that they are the lifeblood of the country. But we also know that immigrants need to benefit the United States, and that we are not obligated to become the welfare state for the globe.

What we despise is illegal immigration, a word that you conveniently omit from your analysis. Why is that? 

Illegal immigrants' first act when coming to the US is to break our laws. That doesn't bode well for remaining lawful once they are in country.

Conservatives also don't buy into the WSJ/Chamber of Commerce narrative that illegals are needed because they are doing jobs Americans won't do. Bullshit. If we need temporary agricultural workers, set up a LEGAL guest worker program to handle that.

He was.  The average Trump supporter is congealing as a fair-weather or part-time conservative (at best), populist, big government, anti-Constitution, Northeast liberal tendencies, unexceptional American. 

Angry?  Yes.  Conservative?  Not on your life.

I do not think that is an accurate characterization of Trump supporters at all.