Hunter would have been a good choice also. But the majority of the people who voted must not have thought so.
Much as I have seen on CNN and elsewhere, first the wide shot, then zoom in to the two or three candidates they want to discuss, leaving the conservative(s) 'on the cutting room floor'. It was done with the most conservative, the next most conservative, and the third most conservative, ad infinitum. Now we have Republiberals as the contenders, which is what the kingmakers at the MSM wanted all along.
We may gleefully chortle about the "New Media" and the dinosaur media, but they still are piped into the majority of living rooms.
No one will vote for the people they have not heard of, no matter how bad the known alternatives, and the MSM has done their best to make sure conservative candidates stayed off the national radar.
Thankfully, this is still a relatively free country, and for now, I am free enough to be thoroughly disgusted.