Thank you! I heard his comments too, and I smelled a Roveian operation when it came out that the Romney campaign was picking and choosing which candidates to support! FFS!
What were social conservatives supposed to do then?! Support Romney after his backstab? Yes, Akin cost Romney the election - but only because Romney chose to betray social conservatives. Had Romney simply taken it in stride, he would have had greater support than he needed to beat Obama.
Why did Romney lose where Bush won? Real simple. His numbers were the same or better than Bush in 2000, except in two areas - religious unaffiliated and non-Christians where he dropped about 5 percent off of Bush Jr. Yes, you heard it right - the supposed moderates he was expected to draw, did not show up for the party.
My conclusion - it’s not worth electing moderates. Moderates won’t vote for you and you need to focus on the base and get good turnout.
I think the reaction of elite Republicans to the internal struggle is enlightening.
As a socon, I want a candidate I can support and if the party was interested in my support, they’d find a candidate that could ask for my vote with a straight face.
The Republican Party refused to do so in the last cycle, instead expecting me to tailor my beliefs to their own.
Sounds sort of ... liberal, to me.
If the Republican Party wants to earn my vote back, it needs to appeal to me rather than to expect me to back the machine. That’s what the other party does.