Locals tepidly support Trump at RNC

"My father used to say, if you look too closely at all your friends, you won't have any friends," said Bramnick, the leader of New Jersey's Assembly Republicans. "If you look too closely at anybody running for elected office, you won't like anybody."

While there are certainly unequivocal Trump supporters from the area, in interviews over the first two days of the convention here others have described deeply conflicted feelings about supporting Trump, weighing his potential damage to the party and comments they find offensive against disdain for Hillary Clinton and support for their party.

Bramnick crystallized those concerns. Like many other Republicans, he said he wants a more inclusive party, but he's choosing the person who comes closest to GOP principles.

"None of these paths are perfect ... if anyone tells you the Republican path is perfect, that's not true. But generally you have to make a decision in which direction are you going now, and I made the decision that I'm going with basic Republican values," Bramnick said. "That doesn't mean there's no issues - there are issues."

That sounds like he's rationalizing, I told him.

"I am -- everybody is," he instantly fired back.

His comments were echoed by the gay Republican from North Jersey who finds the GOP's platform this year exclusionary, but says he's supporting the party. From the Vietnam veteran who lives at the Jersey shore and said he wanted Scott Walker, but got on board with Trump because he hates what President Obama and Hillary Clinton have done to the military. And from House Speaker Paul Ryan, who barely mentioned Trump's name when he spoke Monday to the Pennsylvania delegation, but said, "This is a binary choice: it is Trump, or Clinton, that's your choice."

These were hardly enthusiastic endorsements. The only binding factor seemed to be antipathy toward Clinton.

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