* Romney is at worst unknown. Obama, however, is known. Romney’s positions are clearly to the right of Obama. With Romney you might get 75% of what you want. You might even get more. With Obama you will be lucky to get 5%.
* Reward? First off, the presidency is NOT about rewarding or punishing any individual man. Frankly, NOBODY is that important. It is about the people of the country, first foremost and always. Secondly, losing on “Dont ask Dont tell” came about because we lost elections. What did you think you’d get with Clinton, Obama, Pelosi and Reid? Ice cream cake?? Elections have consequences, and when you lose you get a shift toward the middle, as it validates your opponent and debunks your side. The only way you can shift a party to its base is to have it validated by WINNING. You argue the symptoms and not the root cause.
* I lived in SoCal for almost three decades, so you in the northeast have nothing on us in terms of having to deal with an inept Republican party. And by choosing to play “take your ball and go home” out of spite you will do federally what the state party has done locally, marginalize our views and our values. You will get to keep your precious purity at the cost of giving your true enemy, Democrats, the power.