I recently received a long email from an old friend, someone whose judgment I very much respect, making the case for Trump. I can't say I'm convinced, but I thought his argument interesting and eloquent enough to ask him for permission to share it. Here are substantial excerpts from his missive.

Bill,

As you know, I favored one of the governors earlier in the GOP nomination contest. At the convention in July I was hoping an alternative might emerge. But when I offered all sorts of suggestions to a friend as to how Trump could have done a better job in the first debate, I realized as I was offering these suggestions, I was now with Trump…..for reasons I did not see earlier in the process. And, Bill, the time has now come for you, me, and other reluctant warriors to be "all-in" for Trump, a place I never thought I would be.

A New York Post article described the reactions of good ordinary people, mostly Democrats, after watching the first Trump-Clinton debate in a Latrobe pub. These folks are not buying what Mrs. Clinton is selling. (The tavern, the Tin Lizzy, is in Arnold Palmer's home town.) Ken Reed, a Latrobe farmer, small businessman, and a Democrat summed it all up very nicely, "the policies she [Clinton] talked about tonight ultimately either hurt me or ignore me." In my words, the elites don't give a damn about the people in the heartland.

Your writers' observations of Mr. Trump's debate performance were accurate; and I share some of them myself. Yes, he was not prepared; he missed opportunities, he was too defensive, and he spent too much time with needless braggadocio. Yes, Trump has huge faults and shortcomings; but he is an underdog in a presidential race to defend and promote the very things you, I, and countless other Americans care most about: our families, our country, and our institutions that safeguard liberty, the rule of law, and the life and dignity of every person. Donald J. Trump, not Hilary Rodham 'Milhous' Clinton, is the true defender of these things.

The ruling political, academic, and media class think Mr. Trump is a billionaire real estate, hotel, and casino man—a constant promoter and a buffoon. But, in truth, he is a deeply insecure, self-centered man unaccustomed and unprepared to be in the place in which he finds himself. Simply put: he is ill equipped for the political battle of our lifetime, and in the lifetime of our country. But, he will fight, and as Lincoln said of Grant after the first day's disastrous losses at Shiloh, "I can't spare this man; he fights." Remember people were suggesting to Lincoln that he replace Grant who, despite previous successes, was totally unprepared …and maybe drunk… at Shiloh when Johnston attacked and nearly overwhelmed Federal forces. Trump alone is the person who can and will fight in this terrible battle. We don't need more McClellans.

Trump's core instinct is right. A country without borders is not a country. And ours is a country rooted and bordered in an idea, an idea of liberty and self-government that is withering under the unrelenting corruption of its ruling class in both parties. Trump, for reasons vain and glorious, is willing to go to battle to save the great idea that is America—and, as our schoolchildren remind us every day, this America is a Republic: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

Indulge my love for Chesterton's epic poem Lepanto. Trump is the last knight of our land able to fight for this cause, just as Don Juan of Austria was such a knight in a turning point battle against the mighty fleets and elite warships of the Ottoman Turks. Chesterton's lines in Lepanto capture this lonely knight at another significant time in history, a situation and time not totally dissimilar to our own.

The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall, The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung, That once went singing southward when all the world was young. In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid, Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade. Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far, Don John of Austria is going to the war,

Like Don Juan, Trump (like Grant too) takes up the battle when others have faltered. GKC captures this moment in the 16th century when leaders turned away from the crisis before them.

The cold queen of England is looking in the glass; The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass; From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun, And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.

Trump is what we have in the 21st century. Others have either declined to enter the battle, been defeated upon its field, or are just not capable of the moment. Lepanto was a moment that mattered just as our present moment matters. And in this 21st century the Ottomans of Lepanto are coming from the inside of our kingdom. Today we are engaged, as you have so eloquently written, in a very real battle to preserve and strengthen our country of self-government and liberty.

The elites of the ruling class…and many of us as well…see Trump as "Trump Tower"—large and ritzy in all things. They/we hold him in contempt. They're wrong. We're wrong. In reality, Trump is a common laborer in that Latrobe saloon. He is just a rich "Joe the plumber." He is the plowman of Braintree who does not have an Adams to follow; so he goes himself, and calls out to one and all to join him, no matter who they are.

What we saw in the first debate was someone who isn't particularly articulate. He is not up on the details of policy and he has not honed the skills of a debater on the national scene. Yet, he knows something is wrong with his country. He only wants to make our America great again. And he is mocked. He seeks to restore the greatness, the winning edge—and then most likely to go home again to that wild tavern of his life.

Trump is the one who saw the makings and reality of our country's discontent in a way others did not. He also saw the clear outlines of the corruption of our institutions long before anyone else did, even before Bernie. But that's what leaders do. They see beyond the rest of us.

So even if Trump can't speak a coherent paragraph of an idea, even if he is not an accomplished debater the first time on a national stage going one-on-one against an experienced career politician debater, and even if he does not know the constitutional principle of federalism (but he did get 'stop and frisk" absolutely right, and the elites arrogantly mocked him), his army remains committed to him. This army of citizens knows something is wrong in America, they cherish what is good in America, and they are prepared to fight for this good in America, and not for themselves alone. They want to sustain our experiment in constitutional liberty and self-government—and preserve the richness and vitality of the little platoons of our lives. And Trump is their leader...and their numbers grow.

Bill, my friend, yes, I have come to believe that Trump is the best defense that can be mustered at the moment (sad, but true). Take heart though that it's "We, the people" in Latrobe, Toledo, Scranton, Macomb County and across the country who chose Trump over all others….and yes, these are the same people at another time who chose Roosevelt, JFK, the Bushes, McCain, and Reagan.

Francisco, the seeming unimportant sentry at Hamlet's castle at Elsinore, could have been a character in the Latrobe tavern, a bystander to events that ultimately overwhelm all. Minor character Francisco sets the whole tone for Hamlet right at the outset—and he sets the tone for our gravely tragic play in our own time. Bernardo arrives to relieve Francisco at his post. Francisco utters his gratitude and his fear: "For this relief much thanks.'Tis bitter cold,..And I am sick at heart". Shakespeare's sentry captures in his heart the sick corruption that will soon overwhelm everyone in the royal household, just as our sick corruption in the royal household today will overwhelm us.

Like Francisco, I too am sick at heart—but now it is a sadness that many who should know better are not rising up to support someone, who may be very imperfect yet is so willing to take on all the corruption that is represented by HRC and protected by her elite allies. Where shall I tell my son I was in this great epic battle when Trump, the uncouth underdog like Don Juan of Austria before him, is "riding to the sea…..and shouting to the ships"? For me, it is a new answer. It is now time to go off to war with him and his army. And yes, again Chesterton saw that army and its leader once before.

Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line! Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop, Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate's sloop, Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds, Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds, Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty. Vivat Hispania! Domino Gloria! Don John of Austria Has set his people free!

So let it be for us. We need not the 'scarlet running over', just the power of courage to say, enough is enough. I am voting for Trump. We need an America that is great for all Americans.