Trump helps Jeb.
He takes votes away from responsible conservatives running for president.
The RINO/GOPE vote will eventually coalesce behind Jeb, although I think both Christie and Kasich draw from the same well as Jeb. So...Christie and Kasich take votes away from Jeb. Trump takes votes away from the conservative candidates because he sounds like a conservative even though his track record indicates otherwise.
From a recent Monmouth poll:
“Ideology – Trump leads Walker 27% to 16% among very conservative voters; has 22% support among somewhat conservative voters to 14% for Bush and 12% for Walker; and takes 28% of the moderate to liberal voter compared to 20% for Bush.”
He hurts Bush far, far more than any other single candidate. The day he drops out Bush takes the lead.
I can understand a conservative not wanting Trump as the nominee but I sure don’t understand a conservative not wanting him as a candidate!
Heck, real conservatives should be grateful he’s in just because of the huge numbers of people who tuned into the debate because of him and got introduced to our conservative candidates.