Should-Read: John Quiggin: "Decent Republicans": "While Donald Trump is the most unpopular newly-elected president in polling history...
...he is the most popular among Republicans, easily beating Ronald Reagan. Republicans and Republican leaners overwhelmingly believe (or say they do) that Trump is trustworthy, caring, well-informed and a good manager. The only favorable quality they are unwilling to ascribe is that of an even temper.... Hillary Clinton relied almost exclusively on the strategy of appealing to decent conservatives.... The result of all this was that Trump attracted virtually the same support among Republicans as did Mitt Romney. It was the failure of any significant number decents to switch to Clinton, rather than large-scale desertions from Democrats, that was crucial factor....
None of this should be surprising. Trump is just a logical evolution of the candidates who’ve generated enthusiasm among the Republican base in recent years including Palin in 2008 and a vast crew of not-Romneys in 2012. I’ve met a reasonable number of US Republicans, and Australian conservatives, and plenty of them are decent enough in their personal lives. But there is no reason to believe that this decency will carry through, in any significant way, into their political choices. If they do, it will most likely require a wholesale conversion, rather than a rejection of Trump in favor of some more tasteful flavor of conservatism.
