I believe this will be a regional thing. There are some states in which it’s almost impossible to elect a true conservative. Illinois is one, and Massachusetts is another. There will be states in which conservatives can be elected, so the Tea Party folks will work hard for them.
I disagree entirely. Also Scott Brown didn’t run as an Olympia Snow type of Republican. He is center right. He doesn’t support gay marriage, he does support limits on abortion, he does defend the second amendment and has an ‘A’ rating from the NRA and he ran as a fiscal conservative. As long as we allow ourselves to believe that conservatives can’t win they most certainly will not. There are some types of conservatives that can’t win in some places. Hothead conservatives won’t win in the NE or in places like Illinois but the Demographics certainly do not preclude a conservative winning on the issues. Not that the social issues have ever been the reason that conservatives lose, they lose when they don’t have an issues oriented platform that is relevant to governing. Bob McDonnell who is a strong conservative didn’t just win the easy areas in VA he won in every part of the state and in areas where Obama blew McCain away.