A wise campaign manager would treat any such votes that his candidate did manage to get as a bonus, and not plan on winning an election with them.
Seems to me as long as I've been watching elections that campaign strategists spend a fair amount of time appealing to swing voters, which are unreliable by definition. Here's the issue: those "RINOs" you complain about actually vote, and do so on a consistent basis.
You just said, if I understand the math of your numbers correctly, that 36 million conservatives voted for Bush in 2000, out of a total of 50,456,002. So, the 4 million no shows notwithstanding, more than 70% of Bush's base are conservatives. Yet you said at #359, "by the political strategist's calculus, Bush has been extremely stupid, giving conservatives much of what they want even after they backstabbed him in 2000." How can you say that "Bush has been extremely stupid" to tend to the conservatives in the GOP coalition, which make up 70% of his base? Marine slogans are nice, but do you really think it would be wise to ignore those 36 million loyal conservatives just to stick it to the 4 million no shows, who are winnable in any case? Satisfying the last 10% of the self-proclaimed base would probably cost at least 10% of the popular vote--in other words, the GOP candidate would lose roughly 2.5 votes for each vote gained.
Source? Link? You want to get your way more often? Generate votes, and do so reliably.
70% of the base is "unreliable?" You want to occasionally throw an election to a radical leftist Democrat? Keep doing as you've been doing.
Voting for Republicans? But don't expect the GOP to continuously prostrate themselves before you and beg the favor of your vote. They will find other people to vote for them.
Sounds like you're saying "my way or f***ing else." Nahhh... being an American, I reserve the right to criticize my political "betters." Also, I don't honestly think that political strategists are as quick as you'd like them to be to throw away votes that are theirs to lose. As I've pointed out, I'm not in the business of building coalitions of the unwilling. Having been slow-rolled and back-stabbed by the self-proclaimed "true conservatives" one time too many, I refuse to trust anyone who regards loyalty to others as optional. And yes, Saber, I am talking about you in the above paragraph.
I'll probably get over it. Don't know if hchutch will. I'm much the same way, btw. I don't trust politicians who are disloyal to what I believe are in the best interests of the country, or who think loyalty is a one way street.
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