I agree with you 100%. Those "conservatives" who either flipped their vote or stayed home displayed an all-or-nothing mentality that no one will represent. And in the process of us trying to reason with them, we find out that their feelings are more important than logic and common sense. They have decided that cynicism and apathy will suffice for reasoned thought, yet they still want to be identified as politically conservative. Since when did "abandon all pragmatism" become a right wing commandment?
Since when did "abandon all principle" become the Republican Party's silver bullet?
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To all those on this thread who say "pick yourself up, and look forward, instead of whining." here is my suggestion. We have to learn the above sentence by heart, and we have to learn how to reach the reachable voter by speaking the "feelings" language. They do not hear or accept our logic and common sense arguments, so we have to talk "feelings"
Example:
Instead of "what do you think of illegal immigration, (or any variation of those words)
"how do you feel about out-of-state kids paying in-state university tuition?"
If they express disapproval, agree with them and then say "how do you feel about people visiting the US signing up for food stamps?" [This is the principle of using baby steps - don't use the example of illegals getting maternity care - no one can 'feel' good about refusing maternity care.]
If they say they feel that visitors should not be eligible for food stamps, you can say, "yeah, I feel the same way, I wish our govt. would improve the laws for making sure that everyone in the US is legally entitled to be here.
We want to be able to have a dialogue with Oprah and The View watchers, and they do not react well to 'thinking' questions. Feelings are deeper and more personal than thoughts, so will trump thoughts in many person's brains every time.