Earlier this year, Donald Trump shocked the political establishment by securing the Republican nomination for president in historic fashion. During the primary election season, he attracted some 13.4 million votes, more than any Republican candidate in American history, while defeating 17 well-qualified and experienced candidates.

After a hard-fought campaign where passions ran high, it is understandable that supporters of other candidates would need time to reflect and heal before getting behind the nominee for the general election battle against Hillary Clinton.

The fact that we had such a robust primary campaign is testament to the strength and vitality of the Republican movement in our country and the commitment we all share to building an even greater America.

However, in the months since Donald Trump secured the nomination there are some in our party and movement who stubbornly refuse to accept the outcome. They are unwilling to set aside their own personal frustrations or selfish differences with our nominee.

This must stop -- immediately.

Any effort to actively obstruct from our side is short-sighted and shameful, especially for those who profess fealty to Ronald Reagan and all he stood for.

Those who affix their signatures to letters calling for Trump to be expelled as the nominee or who call him unfit to serve are only doing the dirty work of the Democrats and the Clinton machine.

Not surprisingly, they are completely out of touch with the grassroots of our conservative movement. A counter-petition we recently launched calling for staunch, unwavering support of Donald Trump clearly demonstrates this. The response was overwhelming -- over 150,000 signers in just days -- that’s 1,250 grassroots signatures for every one of the 120 establishment types and elites who signed an opposition letter.

In a 1967 speech to conservative activists, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan urged Republicans to have a robust primary for the 1968 race for the White House. But he also offered a warning to those who would break his 11th Commandment by attacking their fellow Republicans.

“Let no opposition candidate quote your words in the general election to advance the cause of statism or the philosophy of those who have lost confidence for man’s capacity for self-rule,” he warned.

If, in the coming fall campaign, the words of the “Never Trump” crowd are used in attack ads against the GOP nominee, those who uttered them will have to answer to their fellow Republicans here on Earth, and maybe The Gipper up in heaven one day.

Donald Trump is a first-time candidate, which brings some challenges. But even the most experienced candidates are not flawless. More importantly, Donald Trump has shown in recent days that he is absolutely committed to strengthening his own effectiveness as a candidate and is poised to run a winning campaign this fall.

The alternative is simply unacceptable.

A Hillary Clinton presidency would be disastrous for America.

Our nation and the world undoubtedly will be less safe with radical Islamic terror allowed to expand and thrive unchecked.

The Supreme Court would shift dramatically left and activist decisions based on societal change with little or no regard for the Constitution would fundamentally change America beyond the havoc President Barack Obama has wreaked.

Taxes would increase on everyone, not just the 1 percent, despite the dishonest rhetoric of Hillary Clinton.

Regulatory red tape would continue to strangle U.S. businesses small and large resulting in fewer jobs, higher costs for consumers and a loss of competitiveness in the world.

The Affordable Care Act, which has made health care less affordable while delivering inferior patient care, will never solve our goals for sustainable expanded health care reform.

At best, our anemic economic growth would continue, further deteriorating the American dream and making it virtually impossible to climb out of the $19 trillion debt hole that Washington has dug for us. At worst, we could slip into another recession and millions of Americans barely making ends meet now will be dealt another crushing blow jeopardizing their -- and the nation’s -- future.

Regardless of whether you embrace Donald Trump’s style or candor, it is clear that his vision for America is rooted in the optimism that embraces the idea that America’s best days are ahead and that the best way to avoid war and conflict is peace through strength.

These two key pillars were the same ones used by my former boss, President Reagan.

Like the 40th president, Donald Trump keenly understands that peace cannot exist without prosperity and that without prosperity we cannot be strong enough to preserve that peace. Both can only be achieved with a commitment to national strength and security coupled with a relentless pursuit of economic freedom unburdened by the heavy hand of government.

President Donald Trump would move us in this new direction.

The next few months will be hard but if we unite our party and movement and fight against the opposition instead of opposing each other, we can and will be victorious.

The time for hand wringing and whining is over.

It’s time to go to work.