#NeverTrump: If he's nominated, I will not vote for Trump

In the two presidential elections I have been eligible to vote in, I have always voted for the Republican nominee. I had some misgivings with both McCain and Romney, but voted for them regardless. I had been planning once again on supporting the GOP nominee, regardless of who it ends up being. However, things have changed, and that is no longer my position.

If Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee, I will not cast my vote for him.

Donald Trump has few conservative or small-government instincts. His natural inclination is for government intervention and overreach, he'll just make it "better".

He's only a recent "convert" to the GOP. Trump likes to say that Ronald Reagan was a Democrat before he ran for President, but he fails to mention that Reagan demonstrated his ideological conversion over a period of years and two terms as governor of California. Unlike Reagan, Trump has no track record to prove his newfound "conservatism".

In addition to having no track record, Trump's alleged conversion to conservatism comes on the heels of his serial party-switching. He has changed affiliation numerous times: Democrat to Republican (1987) to Independence/Reform (1999) to Democrat (2001) to Republican (2009) to no party (2011) to Republican (2012).

Trump has donated vast amounts of money to left-wing politicians like Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Charlie Rangel, Ted Kennedy, and groups like the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and the Clinton Foundation. More recently, he funded the likes of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell in their fight against Tea Party conservatives.

He likes single-payer government-run healthcare and the ObamaCare mandate.

Trump once proposed a $5.7T tax hike.

For all his bluster on illegal immigration now, Trump supported amnesty in the past and criticized Romney for being "mean-spirited" on illegal immigration.

He may support gun rights for now, but in the not-so-distant past he has advocated for an "assault weapons" ban and longer waiting periods to purchase firearms.

Trump wants to "be neutral" regarding Israel and the terrorists/terrorist-enablers in Gaza and the West Bank.

Trump circulated a fabricated Tom Coburn quote attacking Ted Cruz, and routinely retweets white supremacists and neo-Nazi Trump supporters.

For political purposes, Trump claims to be a Christian, but fundamentally does not understand what that means. He's never repented or asked God's forgiveness, exhibits a severe amount of Biblical illiteracy, and makes light of his (liberal) Presbyterian church practice and doctrine.

He's a twice-divorced unrepentant womanizer who exhibits no concern for marital vows, and yet we're supposed to believe he will keep his vow to uphold the Constitution.

His language is unbefitting of polite society, much less one who claims to be a Christian. His fallback routine is to mock, ridicule, make fun of, and intimidate those who oppose him, stand in his way, or simply ask him a question he doesn't like. Rather than a Constitution-loving conservative, Donald Trump is a strongarm authoritarian.

Trump constantly exaggerates his business success, will go on the witness stand this summer in a fraud case about his failed "Trump University" scam, and abused both the political process and eminent-domain for personal gain.

He said that his pro-partial birth abortion sister (a federal judge) would be a "phenomenal" Supreme Court justice -- especially disturbing in light of the recent death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia.

My biggest issue is his stand on abortion. He may be the only Republican presidential candidate who has EVER defended Planned Parenthood during a televised primary debate, in addition to other interviews. Yes, we're talking about Planned Parenthood, which chops up babies and sells their body parts.

Leave it to Donald Trump to swallow and repeat the standard left-wing baby-murder-supporting talking points about Planned Parenthood and associated evil organizations. His comments could very well have been made by Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or any other liberal Democrat. As I said at the beginning of this post, Donald Trump has no conservative instinct or inclination.

For these reasons and more, but especially his inexcusable defense of abortion-giant Planned Parenthood, I cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee. I value my convictions more than that.

I will be supporting Ted Cruz in Oklahoma's primary (my reasons here), but if another candidate has a better shot at stopping Trump in your state, by all means vote to stop Trump.

Recommended reading from authors with similar points and additional data on Trump: Erick Erickson, Dana Loesch, U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, and Matt Walsh.