I'm not so sure they all would have been better. Republican voters are wary of candidates who get into an establishment position and then abandon conservative

I'm not so sure they all would have been better. Republican voters are wary of candidates who get into an establishment position and then abandon conservative policy--for all of Trump's personal ills, most of his voters were pretty happy with him from a policy standpoint. If you know that your party's nominee is going to be vilified by the media regardless, it does make some sense to pick one who's not going to waste time trying in vain to be likeable.