So you're saying those four conservative candidates were not really conservatives at all, but rather GOP-e agents? If so, then why do you bother referring to them as "conservatives"? And if not, then how is it they were willing accomplices in the GOP-e effort to dilute the conservative vote?
I know what I'm about to say is not nearly as titillating as your dastardly GOP-e conspiracy theory, but the simple fact is: We conservatives did this to ourselves by fielding too many candidates.
You completely misunderstood me.
They were all conservative candidates. The GOP-e was looking to encourage as many weak candidates from among conservative ranks as possible, so as to dilute the conservative vote as widely as possible. The goal was to nominte a Masshole liberal RINO, as such they knew they would be defeated by a strong conservative with name recognition, such as Sarah Palin. So they supported as many weak conservative candidates as possible, so Romney could win a plurality of votes in many states, rather than lose outright to the strong conservative.