.....while I'm a registered Republican consider myself a conservative libertarian. There are a lot of things that the Republican party constantly does wrong because it the "establishment" way, it is far better than any alternative at the moment.
I've always been "establishment" Republican; in fact, back when I was young, I was so "establishment" that in the Nebraska primary, I voted for George Bush rather than Ronald Reagan in 1980, as I assumed only a "moderate" Republican could defeat Jimmy Carter.
Much to my surprise--and gratification--Reagan proved me wrong.
And at the beginning of the 2016 campaign, Trump was dead last on my list of preferred candidates.....as I assumed he was too "far out" to beat any Democrat nominee, no matter how extremist.
Much to my surprise--and gratification--Trump proved me wrong.
But still, I will always support a liberal Republican over a "conservative" Democrat, because any (R), left, middle, or right, helps build and maintain a majority, and as the Republican party is mostly conservative, on most issues that gives conservatives a majority.
As much as I loathe the politics of Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski, as long as they remain in the (R) column, well, I'm okay with them.
However, the "establishment" Republicans need to re-think their assessment of Donald Trump. It's obvious the Republican party is trending towards the populism that Trump personifies, and it'd be a good idea for them to embrace that too. Otherwise, they're going to be left out in the cold, as the Democrats will never accept, and like, them anyway. So where can they go?