Okay. This thread is long overdue. Let's be brutally honest about some things that most sane Ron Paul supporters can agree on.
1) Donald Trump is not the second coming of Ronald Paul or Ronald Reagan or Ron Howard. (Maybe the second coming of Ronald McDonald I suppose. Just kidding. Actually though...maybe not.)
2) Hillary Clinton really really sucks. I mean really really sucks.
3) This country is going to hell in a handbasket. Forget all the hysteria for a moment. Even Obama's "crowning achievement" is crap. (Universal healthcare). The latest reports are that the healthcare gap is widening!
4) The last thing we need are more liberal judges on the SCOTUS.
5) Gary Johnson can't win....and besides he sucks.
6) Daryl Castle is awesome by all accounts....but he can't win either.
7) Bill sucks as much as Hillary and I don't want him back in the Whitehouse as the "first man".
So based on all of the above there are times when I almost kinda wanna support Trump. Not vote for him. He'll win my state anyway and thus I believe it's more important for me to actually vote for who I believe in. But at least support on an emotional level. This is especially true now that Trump is toning down his anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant rhetoric, reaching out to black voters (in an awkward sort of way) and has actually said he regrets some of the really stupid things he's said. But, and this is a big but, when I get exposed to some of his hardcore supporters, especially here, they inspire me to hate him all over again.
Case in point. I noticed a thread on how Hillary might implement gun control got locked. I was like "How could that happen? Isn't that something we all agree on? Don't we all agree that Hillary sucks when it comes to guns?" Curious I clicked on the thread. Low and behold a Trump supporter had hijacked the thread, not to promote Trump but to bash anyone not supporting Trump as somehow "anti gun." Like seriously? One of the early reasons during the primary that I decided I didn't like Trump is because of his pre-campaign statements about how he supported gun control and wanted an assault weapons ban. Yes he "changed" his position but I've seen no evidence that he "changed" before trying to seek the GOP nomination. Then he more recently gave that odd statement about keeping people on the terror watch list from buying guns. (I've yet to see a satisfactory explanation on that.) No certainly someone wishy washy on gun control like Trump is better than someone solidly against guns like Hillary now that the primary season is over. But to say or suggest that people who aren't willing to vote for Trump support gun control is beyond asinine. Seriously John McCain had a better record on the 2nd amendment than does Donald Trump. And I don't know any Ron Paul supporter who voted for McCain. Same with Romney. This whole movement has been about not compromising principles for the sake of political expediency. Once upon a time is seemed like almost [b]everybody[u/b] here knew that. Strategic "lesser of two evils" voting okay if that's what you want to do. Attacking others who don't is never okay!
The other thing that bugs the hell out of me is the mental gymnastics to try to discredit any criticism of Trump whatsoever. I mean come on folks! Even talk radio hosts who had gotten onboard with supporting Trump prior the convention have stated concerns about things that Trump says or has said. And yes some have voiced grave concerns about what's coming out of the campaign, and to a lesser extent Trump, lately with regards to immigration. So no, this isn't "left wing propaganda" or coming from "anti-Trump bias." It's coming from anyone being at all objective about Donald J. Trump. And FWIW Trump needs people who are not immigration hawks to support him. It's not like he doesn't already have the immigration hawk vote sewed up.
I know this will all fall on deaf ears. Or worse the "hard core...you can't say nothing bad about my man" Trump supporters will use this for more nonsensical "If you're not for us you're for the gun grabbers" rhetoric. But if just one Trump supporter says "Hey.....maybe I'm pushing people away" and thinks before typing next time....it will be worth it.