Angsty conservatives licking wounds in Age of Trump

The soul-searching over what to do with the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee includes a broader debate over who gets to define conservatism.

"There are certain conservatives who view themselves as the brains and leadership of the movement who are somewhat offended that their call to action to stop Trump failed," says Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the oldest and largest conservative grassroots organization.

Michael Quinn Sullivan, head of the grassroots group Empower Texans, says conservatives should be reflecting on how they underestimated the frustration of the electorate and consider how they can do a better job of communicating with the millions of first-time voters Trump is bringing into the system.

Sullivan adds that based on his conversations with Texas voters, Trump's early supporters included plenty of frustrated conservative activists who decided, I know he may not be necessarily exactly one of us, but he's going to go burn the place down.

The speaker said Thursday: Conservatives want to know, does he share our values and our principles on limited government, the proper role of the executive, adherence to the Constitution?

Syndicated talk show host Steve Deace in Iowa, in a column written for USA Today, was even more cutting about how the GOP has failed conservatives.