Donald Trump calls himself a “common sense” conservative. You shouldn’t treat the words trivially. In truth, they are casual, if not wearisome, workaday words. But they likely are the most telling and overlooked words he’s uttered on behalf of his candidacy. He’s not about to lecture anyone or expound on precisely what the words mean. Donald a professor ain’t. He leaves it to hifalutin highbrows to analyze and pontificate. And the Establishment is all too willing — in this case, the Conservative Establishment. You didn’t know there was such an animal until recently and wouldn’t have guessed that some members of that haughty crowd are Tea Partiers — specifically, Tea Party leadership.  You always believed these liberty loving people were in love with — uh — liberty. Common sense told you that. It also told you that Conservative Establishment purists have no understanding of warfare — that, like the Confederacy, they may win more of the battles and lose the war. The purists have anointed Cruz because he’s convinced them he will win the battles — eradicate Roe vs Wade, bulldoze Obamacare, decimate the “Washington cartel,” prosecute Planned Parenthood, blow up the Iran deal, end the persecution of religious liberty, simplify the tax code, “eliminate” the IRS, fix immigration, destroy ISIS, create jobs, end pernicious regulation and balance the budget, so help me God, gasp, gasp. He will do all this if he has to stand up to the Devil himself. He has taken millions from conservative PACS and large donors but don’t you think for a nanosecond he will curry any favor their way. Right. By contrast, the Conservative Establishment has more than one bone to pick with Donald. Out of the gate, he’s just not nice. Un-Christian-like, he insults the disabled, a war hero and even sweet old ladies if they criticize him, including old lady Hillary. He’s a Yankee who has rubbed shoulders with left wingers his whole life. Practically speaking, he doesn’t have a clue how Washington works. Forget the bull in the china shop; he would be a Caterpillar 797F. The man has never held public office; he’s not even an attorney and everyone knows attorneys are eminently trustworthy. Yes, if you believe him, Trump said he would repeal Obamacare, decimate the “Washington cartel,” blow up the Iran deal, simplify the tax code, fix immigration, destroy ISIS, create jobs, end pernicious regulation, return Education to the States, carve up the Federal bureaucracy, renegotiate foreign trade and foreign aid, restore the military, establish energy independence and “make America GREAT again.” But Trump is vague on a bunch of domestic issues, like abortion, same-sex marriage, Planned Parenthood and Religion. You see, he just doesn’t pass cherished Conservative values. One Establishment fears him because he doesn’t bleed Conservative Red. The other Establishment fears him because he’s not a true Republican. The Democrats fear him because he’s audacious enough to bulldoze the House of Cards they spent decades building. They all fear him because he doesn’t need their money and won’t wear their handcuffs. And the entire ruling class — the Beltway Club, Big Media and Big Business — fears him because their gravy train could hurtle right off the golden tracks. Which leaves you to pose some hypotheticals. Without Donald Trump in the race, would Ted Cruz have advanced to the front of the GOP pack? Without Donald, which of the 16 candidates would have prevailed? Without Trump in the race, one thing is certain — the GOP would be serenely confident knowing that its future would have been in good hands —  Establishment hands. Which leads you to recent history. In 2012, millions of doctrinaire Conservatives stayed home in rejection of Romney — a good man, an accomplished man, who didn’t pass their litmus test. Out of Conservative spite, America swallowed four more years of BHO. With God on his side, Robert E. Lee was hell bound to smash the Union at Gettysburg. His trusted field officers begged him to reconsider since the enemy held the high ground. This was a battle he wanted desperately to win. It was the battle that lost the war. Conservatives might consider using a little common sense.