We're in the middle of a couple-week lull between presidential primary contests, with April 5 Wisconsin primary on deck.
Leading up to that event, Republicans' acrimony over Donald Trump rages on.
Even as the "anybody but Trump" movement, led by the likes of Mitt Romney, rages on, many Republicans see his nomination as inevitable and admit they'd support him over the Democratic nominee — especially if it's Hillary Clinton, whom they hate with the type of burning rage most people reserve for people who hurt animals or children.
At a Suncoast Tiger Bay forum Wednesday, Republican members of Pinellas County's legislative delegation said they would definitely back the candidate, who has a decent lead in terms of delegates and has been crushing it in states with primaries, despite the fact that he's an unapologetic jerk-face who says things a sociopath merely thinks.
“Well, I'd say I'll support the nominee, and I look forward to doing that on this occasion," said State Sen. Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican who typically hasn't been afraid to go against the party line. "But I will say that every day, almost, something that comes out of his mouth disappoints me.”
State Rep. Chris Latvala, a Largo Republican (and the above Senator's son), also had harsh words for the man he may ultimately end up supporting.
“I think he's in large part an embarrassment and not representative of myself and my party,” he said.
The same went for State Sen. Jeff Brandes (R—St. Petersburg) and State Rep Kathleen Peters (R—South Pasadena).
It's a given that the other Republican on the panel, State Rep. Larry Ahern, would support Trump; he's already endorsed him.
Notably, Ahern is a social conservative with strong views on abortion and same-sex marriages. Trump's track record (and the things that come out of his mouth) doesn't exactly line up with that kind of platform (but there may be some common ground there).
Later in the event, moderator Peter Schorsch asked whom each thought would be the next president.
Those who begrudgingly admitted they'd support Trump if he were the nominee (Ahern aside, of course) all named other people, except for Peters.
“I'm afraid it'll be Donald Trump,” she said.
The elder Latvala said he hopes a certain Florida man will resurrect his candidacy with a hard-fought effort.
“I think it's going to be a deadlocked convention and Jeb Bush will be [the nominee],” he said, and the room erupted into laughter.
The younger Latvala went with Ted Cruz.
Brandes, meanwhile, said he sees a deadlocked convention resulting in House Speaker Paul Ryan as the nominee (and ultimately president).
This article appears in Mar 24-30, 2016.