Interesting time at coffee this morning.

I have coffee with a group of locals on Mondays and Fridays where we talk about the weather, community, and of course, politics. Over the past few weeks the topic of the eventual GOP nominee has dominated the chats.

I’m also a member of my local GOP chapter and I chair our communications committee. I’ve spent a lot of time canvasing the surrounding areas, talking with many leaders and everyday folks about the state of the country, whether we are handling things locally in the right way, and all the way up to the national level. It is a mix of both parties, although I spend more time talking with Republicans and Conservatives.

Most every person shares the same concerns about the direction of the country: The economy is not doing well. Immigration is a huge problem. Rising crime and lack of money for adequate police resources is spreading. Congress is spending WAAAAAYYYY too much money with little to show for it. The education system needs a purge of idealogues. And, of course, there is growing distrust of the leadership at the national, and not surprisingly creeping down to state and local governments.

It is quite clear there is a growing discontent, but the question is “who” is the person to fix it. Republicans have an enormous opportunity to take advantage of the situation and put forth a candidate who the party can rally around, but also defeat Biden. Biden is quickly losing his appeal, but the concern among those at coffee this morning was “who is this person?”

Trump is the only candidate with actual Presidential experience. He did a lot of great things while in office that won over many conservative skeptics. I wouldn’t have a problem voting for him, if anything, because it irritates the liberals. I get a certain pleasure from watching them struggle, but I digress.

However, several members of the club want a different option. Very few would actually vote for Trump if he became the nominee because they don’t believe he could beat Biden. They want to win at all costs and don’t want the distractions that Trump brings to the table. Biden is going to be the nominee for his party. If something happens during that process, then it will be Harris. The question is that despite Biden’s ever-growing blunders and age-related stumbles, along with Harris’ massive disapproval rating, will Trump win?

Recent polls show that without Trump, DeSantis and Ramaswamy are virtually tied. DeSantis struggles from a charisma problem. Ramaswamy has some credibility issues. The rest of the field is double-digits behind and have a lot of ground to make up. What is a conservative to do with this field?

One thing all agree on is that the GOP MUST win the White House in 2024 to save the House and possibly flip the Senate. Like in 2016, the GOP has a chance to run with this since Biden and his administration is a disaster. So who is the best candidate to deliver a win that everyone in the GOP can rally around?

Before that can be answered, the first question is can the GOP build bridges in the party to create an alliance around a candidate? Every person at coffee is in a camp; and most are, “It’s my candidate or no one.” I don’t think everyone is that way, but the more people I talk with, the more it seems a large swath of people follow that thinking, especially the die-hard Trump supporters.

I’m not sure everyone will stick to that when the time comes, but there seems to be a definitive, “I will not vote for Trump” rather than “I will not vote for [anyone else]”. The everyday Republican wants to win, but I’m not sure the party will recover in time for the election if there are stubborn factions.

I’m in the very small minority of “I’ll vote for whomever the GOP nominates” because Democrats have damaged this country and they must be removed from power no matter who it is. At some point, the GOP needs to rally behind someone and take back the seats of power so the progressive agenda can be rolled back and our country can return to a sustainable path of greatness.

In the meantime, I’m hoping we don’t inflict so much damage to each other that we can recover and put Biden, his crooked family, and the rest of his progressive cronies out to pasture. We’ll see what happens.