I don't know of any ABOers who claim that anything you do in states like CA, NY, or MA is going to make any difference at all this November. I certainly don't.
That said, it's true that I have never qualified every single one of my statements with "unless you live in a deep blue or a deep red state..." because I assumed it was 1) understood and 2) therefore potentially insulting to other peoples' intelligence. What I'm hearing from you is that both my assumptions were incorrect.
And, speaking of insulting, I think it's presumptuous of you to assume that ABOers like me believe you guys in the deep blue and deep red states are going to hand Obama the WH simply because we don't put an "unless you live in a deep blue or a deep red state" qualifier each time we say anything. You might not agree with my vote in November, but I am not a freaking moron.
BTW, I live in a toss-up state which could be razor tight this November.
You know, Kevaod, I think on this subject the way you frame things are reasonable...and you've done more than most posters to delineate qualifiers and caveats.
So I understand your point that you think it might be a bit "ticky-tack" to provide a "color" qualifier "each time we say anything."
That indeed would be a valid point -- IF we had posters beside yourself that EVER bothered to to even mention that indeed these qualifiers that you and I have discussed actually exist!
I would imagine that if you swept thru the THOUSANDS of "ABO" references on FR over the past four months, that the overwhelming "sweep" of comments either assume or imply that "ABO" = ALL voters in ALL states MUST vote Romney. In fact, it's oft' been communicated that no exceptions are to be tolerated for that mindset.
And the other comments that accompany these thoughts -- when challenged -- back this up. We consistently see from posters the notion that Virgil Goode or Tom Hoefling "can't win"...yet that same acknowledgement is almost NEVER offered to Romney's chances in blue states. That gets routinely ignored.
The bottom line here is that people want to be pragmatists. Utilitarians. Political relativists. That's where their anti-Obamaism has led to their desperation.
Well, if they are going to don that political philosophy, then they can't get riled up when that same political philosophy is used to tell conservatives that they SHOULD vote ABOAR in the blue states...ABOAR = Anybody But Obama and Romney. (And that, more quietly, ABOAR also applies to red states).
The very fact that there is a LACK of an ABOAR movement on FR displays that people are more pro-Romney than they are anti-RINO. And that will be the eventual death knell of the GoP, because there will no longer be a "home" for conservatives.
If I wanted to constantly choose 'tween liberal POTUSes, why would I EVER give a dime to the GoP?
If the RINOs give us somebody to the left of LBJ, why would be want to stay Republicans?