this election is crucial because it is not so much about the candidate but partisan ideology - republicans vs democrats.  at stake is how the new president (good or bad) will affect the SCOTUS as there will likely be 2-3 judges that they next president may pick in 4 or 8 years, affecting the tenor of the supreme court - conservative or liberal.  crucial too is the control of the senate, if the democrats can take the presidency and senate it would be more meaningful to them, and vice versa.  the repubs want to retain control of the senate and likely would retain control of the house, so if they can also control the presidency, they will control the whole government.  hence, it is all about power.  while many leaders in the repubs dislike trumpy, they will support him because of this power to control.  further, trumpy is popular despite his many personal shortcomings, their movement is to restore the white power from the black or brown power we had for the last 8 years - a racial issue.