Hildy, I believe you. In fact, if Rudy was at 5% in the polls, I believe a lot of Rudy supporters would attack him and sing the praises of whoever was in first place.
But I, and apparently others, don't want to choose our candidate that way. And even some who do, can't see attacking other conservatives on "positions" when you have no interest in positions, just the "position" in the latest poll.
What I am trying to say is that FR is a conservative site to espouse conservative values, defend them against the attacks of the left, and to sell them to the nation as the only good and right way for our country to move forward.
To have those conservative principles, and their standard-bearers, torn down by people who, by their own admission, only support their candidate because "the tide is in his favor", really rubs us the wrong way.
I'd rather have a real fight over issues with a Hillary supporter, than try to argue principle and policy with people who are only attacking my views because the candidate in the lead holds other views, when the people I'm talking to could care less about what views anybody holds.
What you are not acknowledging, or understanding, is that the center has shifted left to a great degree, largely because of the war and the newer voters moving into the system.
To hold on to old definitions of what is conservative right, center and left is a mistake.
The momentum is in the other direction, and to swim upstream like a doomed salmon in a National election is problematic at best. The 2006 results should have warned you to this new reality. The liberal bear will be gleefully eating your quivering carcass in 2008, if you persist in fighting against the flow.
To some, to capitulate would be a abandonment of principle, but there are no principles in politics. There is only political realities and compromises.