>>...Conservatives fail to see their current circumstances...<<
I’m not so sure. I think Conservatives/Tea-Partiers *DO* recognize the current circumstances. I think they are simply outnumbered by all the moderate, registered-republican, gop voters who have eagerly lined-up to support and vote for Romney.
I voted for Newt. I have not sent a penny to the GOP since they ran McCain. I have returned all their begging letters with nasty-notes. I won’t support the GOP until several consecutive elections convince me conservatives are running the show.
the hard, undeniable, inescapable fact is that, as currently configured by our electoral process, there will only *EVER* be two “viable” candidates: GOP and DEM. If I want to defeat the dem, I *must* vote for the gop candidate. Any other vote lessens the odds, however slight, of the outcome I prefer this time — the unseating of Obama.
The fact that my general election vote may “please” the gop power-brokers is coincidental. I could *NOT* care less if the gop thinks my vote for the gop candidate is somehow an endorsement and/or indicative of supporting their dysfunctional, malfeasant, unethical politi-slut organization in any way.
The primaries are where we get a chance to defeat the GOP’s preferred RINO. We could not get it done this time. Romney got more votes & delegates. There’s nothing I can do about it now that will “teach the gop a lesson”. I’m not going to obsess over the loss. At this point, I want to keep fighting for my main goal: unseating Obama. But that’s just me. You vote your conscience and do whatever let’s you sleep at night. I might not agree with your decision, but I’m not about to hold it against you either. This election has turned (for some folks) into a purely emotional decision and I can’t say I fault them. Both sides have worked darned hard to make that happen. I’m just keeping my eyes on the target: dumping Obama. That’s all that matters to me.
We need to nominate, support & promote more conservative candidates -AND- to do whatever we can to bring more folks into the conservative fold -AND- do whatever we can to clean the RINO’s out of the GOP corp org-chart.
I know - easier said than done. But I just think the only way to beat them is to outnumber them by an un-cheatable margin. Right now, as much as I hate saying it, it seems pretty clear to me that the conservative/tea-party point of view does *not* make up the majority of the GOP electorate. The good news is that I think the conservative/tea-party point of view is spreading.
Romney's absolute absence of conservative principle reassures the DINOs, RINOs and CINOs that socialism, baby slaughter, rump ranging posing as "marriage," gun grabbing, tax hiking, gelding of the military, and Obozocare rechristened as national Romneycare will continue apace but that it will be BIPARTISAN or even REPUBLICAN socialism, baby slaughter, rump ranging posing as "marriage," gun grabbing, tax hiking, gelding of the military, and Obozocare rechristened as national Romneycare. When "Republican" SCOTUS candidates are nominated, they will most resemble such memorable heroes of the left and of social issue revolution as David "Swish" Souter, Sandra Day (Planned Barrenhood) O'Weathervane, John Paul Stevens, Lewis Powell, Herod Blackmun, William Brennan, and Earl Warren and NEVER a John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, or Antonin Scalia.
And the beauty part (from a left Demonrat point of view) is that this will be accomplished by an hereditary RINO, thereby permanently gutting the potential of the GOP as a party in actual opposition to the leftist agenda. We may as well join the European Union now and get it over with. AND, Obozo's annoying self, his ever megaspending and vacationing wife, his openly communist "tsars," and his imbecile advisors and cabinet members go away after our four year national nightmare in favor of an even worse nightmare in which Romney takes care of the BIG money Wall Street corruptocrats who have financed his campaign of libels against every worthy GOP candidate and turns the nation's treasury over to them on the installment plan, and names a bunch of overeager utterly incompetent Muffies, Skippers and other windtunnel trust fund babies to ram through the "GOP" version of Obozoworld, thereby permanently destroying any hope that the GOP will EVER again be a vehicle for freedom and tradition and limited government, much less for morality.
Like you say, we each have to do what we think is right. I won't be joining you in November. I absolutely will NEVER be taken for granted again by the big money brainless and unprincipled forces who temporarily control the GOP. No more Fords, nor Bush Is, nor Doles, nor McCains, nor Nixons, nor Eisenhowers and most certainly no Romneys. What you correctly call the GOP politi-sluts will get no votes from me or from anyone I can influence. Maybe it takes four more years of Obozo to strip the Wall Street trash of enough money to guarantee that they will finance no more disgraceful campaigns than Romney has waged this year. He has advanced absolutely NOTHING in the way of positive issues and spent millions and millions and millions lying and distorting the records of each and every GOP opponent shamelessly. You may want to reward that. I won't. After he is defeated by the real pros at character assassination like Obozo and Axelrod, the GOP can be brought back on track.
If you think that Romney and the GOP's spineless mushballs eagerly supporting him are the majority of the GOP electorate, you are flat out wrong. When there were many conservatives in the race, Romney could win small pluralities. If his forces were a majority of the GOP, it would be time to destroy the GOP. Scorched earth. Rule or ruin. Romney would not govern to the right of Obozo in any meaningful way. His election would destroy the GOP as well as the country. Obozo may well destroy the country but he cannot destroy the GOP without the active help of the moneyed mushballs and their dupes who are SOOOOO obsessed with their understandable hatred of Obozo that they cannot see the evils that will be perpetrated in their name by Romney.