VIDEO: Trump/Ryan meeting concludes, Ryan calls it positive, doesn't formally endorse Trump yet

I think all of you hating on Paul Ryan should think about this: You want Trump because you're convinced he's a fighter, but the evidence that he's committed to conservative ideas in any real sense is hard to find. What Ryan's looking for is a commitment from Trump that he will govern in a way that actually pays off what Trump's conservative supporters would really like policywise. If Ryan intends to require that as a condition of his endorsement, and he gets it, how is that a negative?

Ryan doesn't offer a formal endorsement yet, but you can tell from his statements about the absolute unacceptability of a Hillary presidency that it's going to come eventually. Darrell Issa is right too. If you want Trump not only be a fighter but a conservative president, he's going to need to be surrounded by people who are willing to help him govern in that manner. I think Ryan, Issa and other congressional Republicans (for the most part) have every intention of doing that, and understand that Trump's relative lack of policy chops make it all the more important that they need to. Without a doubt you'll have your share of cowardly Republicans who are afraid Trump will drag them down to re-election defeat (Ryan is not among them, Sarah Palin's threats notwithstanding), but rational Republicans are going to recognize you can run from Trump and deal with Hillary - or you can help Trump not only to win but to govern responsibly. The media will act as they always do and obsess over the fact that there isn't an endorsement agreement coming out of the first meeting. Ignore them. Trump and Ryan are negotiating. Both know how to do it better than you give them credit for. And before we even move into a general election campaign, this drama will be forgotten. Here are Ryan's comments following today's meeting:

This video is no longer available.

Dan Calabrese——Bio and Archives

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.