Yes, I’ve been over at RedState more than usual lately. The havoc Trump is wreaking among conservatives is fun to behold. And the degree to which movement conservatives despise him is breathtaking. Now, if Trump has done anything, he has exposed just how many people who routinely pull the lever with the ‘R’ by it don’t give all that much of a rat’s ass about conservative orthodoxy. But the movement conservatives do, and they do so deeply. And to lose that group is to bleed off far more of the base than can allow for anything close to a general election victory.
The conservatives at RedState aren’t merely hesitant to vote for Trump. They aren’t merely inclined to refrain from voting for Trump. They aren’t merely wondering if they should or shouldn’t. The are absolutely, unequivocally, defiantly adamant that they will never, under any circumstances, cast a vote for Donald Trump regardless of the November consequences. Indeed, quite a few if them are making the case that a President Clinton would be less damaging to the Republican Party than a President Trump. They’re likely right, of course.
Here are the top ten diaries on the RedState front page right now:
1) CPAC Should Disinvite Donald Trump
2) [an article that has nothing to do with the election]
3) A Vote For Trump is a Vote For Hillary Clinton: Why Trump Is A Sure Loser
4) Trump Spox Katrina Pierson Defends David Duke: “He Disavowed the KKK, Too!”
5) Tomorrow Is Super Tuesday: Don’t Vote For Donald Trump
6) [another article that has nothing to do with the election]
7) A Donald Trump Candidacy Still Doesn’t Bother Me Because Things Can Always Be Much Worse
8) Rep. Peter King (R-NY) Refuses to Say if He’d Vote for Trump against Hillary (VIDEO)
9) BOOM: Hobby Lobby Founder Says ‘Under No Circumstance Could I Vote for’ Trump [VIDEO] #NeverTrump
10) (VIDEO) Senator Ben Sasse Explains Why He Joined #NeverTrump
#7 is a diary by the lone RedState regular who would vote for Trump (he doesn't like him, and is pretty anti-Trump in general, but would still pull the lever for him)
#8 Cheers Peter King (who is normally rather disliked, to put it mildly, at RedState) for implying that he would not vote for Trtump
#10 RedState is extolling Sasse as a hero
The RedState crowd is not only lined up almost entirely in opposition to Trump, they see a Clinton Presidency as preferable. To that end, there’s a lot of talk about a conservative third-party run (Rick Perry is a favorite here), knowing that such a candidacy would quash whatever small chance Trump has in the general election. They’re not merely willing to see nominee Trump lose to Clinton, they are unwaveringly in favor of it.
In addition to being an unimaginably effective turnout machine for the entire left, the Republican nomination of Trump ensures that a sizable portion of the GOP will either sit this one out, or find a third-party candidate for their Presidential vote, or — in a few cases — vote for Clinton.
It is an amazing spectacle, watching this train-wreck unfold.