If you compare the real world to utopia, the real world will look bad. If you compare the real world to dystopia, the real world will look good. The problem with the Never Trumpers (e.g., George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Stephen Hayes, and William Kristol) is that they compare Donald Trump to an ideal conservative candidate. Obviously, this makes Trump look bad. It would make any Republican look bad. They need to compare Trump to Hillary Clinton, for that's the alternative. It reminds me of an old joke:
Two men are camping in the mountains. One morning, as they crawl out of their tents, they see a grizzly bear charging them from half a mile away. One man proceeds to put his running shoes on. The other man chides him: "You can't outrun a grizzly bear!" The first man replies, "I don't have to outrun the bear; I just have to outrun you."
The point is that the basis of comparison matters. Donald Trump doesn't have to be the ideal or perfect conservative candidate in order for one to be justified in voting for him. All he has to be is more conservative than Hillary Clinton, and anyone with a brain knows that he is.
