If we conservatives thus find ourselves passengers on a runaway Trump bus, and I think we do, and if we are political hostages to a new party orthodoxy, and I think we are, then what is to be done?

I make two recommendations. First, conservatives should endorse Donald Trump for reelection. He has done enough to earn our support. (And for the less high-minded among you: A glance at the calendar will confirm that we’re locked in and, at this late stage, have no viable alternative.)

Second, and beginning immediately, we should design, develop, and roll out a new conservative party that would achieve a national footprint no later than the winter of 2023. This new party would not be a protest party, in the mode of the Libertarian party, or the Green party. We would support neither a spoiler role for the personally disappointed nor a platform for the ego- or donor-propelled. Our expectation would be to run parallel to, and in addition to, the Republican party, supporting its candidates as often as ideological congruity permits. On those occasions when we could not support the Republican candidate, and as a last resort, we would run our own candidate and discipline the Republicans for their occasional apostasy. Our ambition over the long term would be to give Republicans the courage of our own conservative convictions.