
<p>As my readers know, I have never been a fan of Trump’s pugnacious and braggadocios personality. ; They are not personality traits I admire in anyone. ; One of the traits I find most distasteful is his praising or lashing out at others solely based on his standard of personality loyalty at any given moment. ; ;</p>



<p>There is a small faction of the public – smaller than the media would like America to believe – who will pitch and yawl at Trump’s expressed whim-of-the-moment. ; Most people &#8212; even most Republicans (including me) &#8212; are not so easily swayed. ; We tend to be grounded in larger principles and beliefs. ; ;</p>



<p>If Trump wants to be the leader of the Republican Party – and even again seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States – he needs to stop narrowing his base. ; He needs to stop judging EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY based on his opinion of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.</p>



<p>I really do not have a problem with pursuing recounts, court cases, and audits. ; I find them to be rather harmless exercises. ; Not sure why the Democrats see them as such a threat. ; If they confirm the outcome of the elections in various regions … great. ; Democrats should be thrilled. ; If they uncover some previously undetected vote fraud … great. ; Who is against correcting the record? ; None of this is going to move Trump into the White House before 2024 – if then.</p>



<p>I have said that Trump would get my vote in 2024 IF … and that is a big IF … he becomes the nominee of the Republican Party. ; That puts me in the same situation in which I found myself in 2016 and 2020. ; I could not vote to empower the radical left that now controls the Democratic Party. ; Their current policies prove that my voting decisions were correct – at least for a conservative. ; But IF … another big IF … Trump has credible opposition in the GOP primary, I will most likely not vote for him – as I did not vote for him in the 2016 primary. ; I did in 2020 primary because there was no opposition, and his appointments and policies were more to my liking than I had anticipated.</p>



<p>I am first a conservative – and vote Republican because it is the only political vehicle in which I can pursue my political philosophy. ; I could not betray my long-held beliefs by supporting the left-wing Democrat agenda – as a number of my fellow conservatives did. ; I still do not understand their decision to abandon principles over a personality issue. ; No conservative can be happy with what we have today.</p>



<p>My desire is to empower conservative principles by empowering the Republican Party. ; And that means participating in a political operation in which I do not always agree with … or even like … all my fellow Republicans. ; To be successful, we must have a nominal level of tolerance and unity.</p>



<p>And THAT is where I think Trump has gone off the rails.</p>



<p>When I look at the long list of conservative leaders that he has brutally attacked &#8212; and mobilized voter animosity toward – I see a lot of people I have covered for decades. ; I see lot of people who I admire for all that they have done to pursue conservative principles and Republican interests.</p>



<p>I happen to believe that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has done a very good job for the Party and the conservative cause. ; He has the record to prove it. ; Trump’s attacks on him are unseemly.</p>



<p>I have long been an admirer of Vice President Pence. ; Conservatives were thrilled when Trump selected him – the first hint that Trump would govern to the right. ; I agree that as the presiding officer, Pence had no authority to decertify anything. ; That was up to the members.</p>



<p>I like and admire former Attorney General William Barr, Senators Mike Lee, Lindsey Graham, and many of the others that Trump has blasted based on only one issue &#8212; the outcome of the 2020 election.</p>



<p>I am a pragmatic type. ; If it takes a Senator Romney to have majority control of the Senate, I will support him in a General Election – although I might vote for someone else in a primary. ; We do not win elections by tossing grenades in our own foxholes. ; And we do not empower conservative principles by losing elections to radical progressives.</p>



<p>Trump recently made an after-the-fact “endorsement” of left-wing Democrat Stacey Abrams, who ran against Brian Kemp for governor in 2018. ; At issue for Trump was Kemp’s refusal to summarily change the vote count in Georgia. ; Trump was asking Kemp to do something that was not within his authority to do – even if he would like to have accommodated Trump.</p>



<p>Vernon Jones, a former Democrat, is Trump’s candidate against Kemp in the upcoming Georgia primary. ; If I were a voter in Georgia, I would be inclined to vote for Kemp. ; His conservative record is impeccable – and he has the best chance of defeating any Democrat. ; And I do not care that Trump is angry with him.</p>



<p>I may be wrong, but I do not believe the critical mass of Republican voters are going to simply follow Trump’s eclectic and inconsistent – and ever-changing – opinions. They will judge all those state and local candidates on their own impressions and information. ; At least I hope so.</p>



<p>My advice to Trump is to stop attacking fellow Republicans who may not agree with you on every issue – or that one issue. ; They have friends, followers, and voters. ; Many of those were your voters. ; But the more you attack Republicans on your narrow self-interest, the more you lose support. ; Personally, I do not care because I do not care if Trump is the GOP presidential nominee in 2024 or not – and I tend to lean to “not.”</p>



<p>Trump is not making any effort to grow the Republican Party. And no matter what the Democrats and their media cronies want people to believe. ; The GOP is not a cult-of-personality – even if Trump would like to think it is and even if some on the edge of the Republican Party act as they are.</p>



<p>There is no doubt that in a primary, I can think of a lot of Republicans – some Trump likes, some he does not – who I would vote for over Trump. ; I would base my voting judgment on who I believe can best represent conservative values, grow the Republican Party and win the General Election. ; Attacking conservative Republicans that I admire is not going to win any points with me. ; ;</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>