“Regardless, the real issue is that the Republican base is well and heartily p!ssed at its leadership, primarily for its poor showing of any kind of results connected with key conservative issues.”
No one can argue with that. The question is “what is conservative?”, and in the case of the Paulistinians, to them conservative = libertarian. It doesn’t to the rest of us.
I see your point, but I don't entirely agree. I'd readily settle for a candidate who was serious about rolling back government agencies and government spending, and securing the border. You don't have to be libertarian to want these things.
They were Republican distinctives once upon a time.