Very good article, but its focus could be wider, I am sorry to say. Pick any conservative issue: fiscal responsibility, defense of Christian culture, immigration, local self-givernment, -- and the same sad conclusion holds.
Conservatism loses across the board, not in the least because the present GOP dominance allows the Left to equate the conservatives with the present-day leadership in Washington.
In this hostile environment the American Conservatives should concentrate on a single issue and make that a litmus test of their electoral support. That single issue should, no doubt, be abortion. The GOP pols should know that unless there is tangible legislative progress in the rights of the unborn, the conservatives will support third parties regardless of the consequences for the GOP.