The future of conservatism depends on reconciliation beginning November 9th. With Donald Trump

flailing in the polls just under two weeks from the presidential election, open conflict has broken

out between many of the Republicans voting for Trump and those who see him as a moral and political

bridge too far for conservatives in the Republican Party. For most people, that conflict is not

based on disagreements about principle. Most never

Trumpers despise Hillary Clinton and will not vote for her. Most never Trumpers even feel

significant sympathy for the vote for Trump to stop Hillary argument. We believe that Trump fails

to meet the most basic standard of morality and conservatism and supporting him damages Republicans

politically now and in the future, so we're not going to vote for either

candidate. By contrast, most Trump voters despise Hillary Clinton and will vote against her. Most

Trump voters are voting for Trump as the lesser of two evils, not because they support his agenda

on trade or trust him as a thoughtful foreign policy sage. Most Trump voters are not Laura

Ingram or Bill Mitchell or Sean Hannity. That's been true since May.

Most Trump voters will vote for Trump because they believe the overriding priority is to stop Hillary from entering the White House. And to that end, they're willing to overlook Trump's myriad flaws. So, why are the two sides of this debate at each other's throats? Mainly it's because they've been projecting bad motives onto the other side. On the one hand, some Never Trumpers have accused Trump voters of being high-handed, kind of sneering at them. The most vocal Trump supporters have spent nearly the entirety of the general election cycle focused not on helping Trump win, but on blaming Never-Trumpers if he loses. They stated, first, Never-Trumpers were unimportant to the debate because they're so few and far between.

Then they stated never Trumpers were the only thing standing between Trump and the White House. They've argued that all never Trumpers secretly want Hillary Clinton to be president. They can't wait for a Hillary presidency. Absurd. Or they don't care about her corruption, idiotic, or were in the pay of nefarious forces. Ridiculous. the only people, literally the only people in this election cycle,

who have benefited monetarily,

are those who have boosted their careers. pay of nefarious forces. Ridiculous. The only people, literally the only people in this election

cycle who have benefited monetarily are those who have boosted their careers by kissing Trump's

ass. These vocal Trump supporters have engaged in the most crass moral preening. Those who disagree

about Trump are pure evil, saboteurs, sellouts. Now, some never-trumpers have made the mistake

of attributing the rhetoric and feelings of the people who make these yucky arguments, the ardent base of Trump support, to people who are voting for Trump reluctantly.

They feel assaulted, and so many Never-Trumpers fail to hear the distinction between intelligent conservatives voting Trump as a last resort to stop Hillary, and Trump cheerleaders who want Trump to be a bludgeon against the cuxervative establishment.

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