The truth of the matter is, there wasn’t one candidate who united the party. Thompson, Guilliani, Romney, none of them united the party for various reasons. Conservatism isn’t dead, there just wasn’t a strong standard-bearer. The Freerepublic or Rush Limbaugh aren’t to blame.
I don't blame Rush (too much, I personally think he shouldve stuck his neck out for either Hunter or Thompson, even though he has this policy of not endorsing anyone in the primaries. This race was too important to abide by that personal rule, IMO).
But I do blame people on FR, insomuch as they represent the equivalent foolishness that clearly played out in the real world. Most who supported Romney did so simply because he looked good in ads and had a slick presentation, and also because they (foolishly) believed he really DID change on the host of issues that we all know so well no need to repeat again.
FReepers should've known better than to trust a flip flopper just because he has an R next to his name. And since so many on FR failed this simple test, the message of who to support didn't get out to the general public, as so many were too interested in hijacking Hunter/Thompson threads than seriously looking at their candidate.
Guilliani failed because he was too liberal even for the moderates of the party.
Romney failed because, quite frankly, in the GENERAL view, he wasn't "experienced" enough for the elderly, but moderate voter, and not conservative enough (for reasons described above) for the conservative voter. He also failed because McCain and Huckabee double teamed him, kinda like how Romney himself divided the party against itself with his (unfounded) criticisms of Thompson, all the while being a flip flopper himself.
Thompson "failed" only because, quite frankly, it's clear this nation is NOT a nation of thinkers, intellectuals, those who are willing to listen to and analyze ideas. He "failed" because he wasn't flashy enough. And probably because some men were jealous of him vis a vis his 2nd wife. Hunter "failed" for similar reasons.
In other words, the other candidates failed because of VALID reasons, reasons that at least had some thought behind them, but the REAL conservatives failed because, their positions required more thought than a soundbyte second, AND because they had to contend with the FAUX conservative of Romney. Fighting to make people want to understand their positions, AND fighting against a pretty boy was too much.
It's just that simple. This is why I have little sympathy for Romney fans right now. Because now they realize what it's like to be on the other side of the fence, with regards to "division among the party geared toward TAKING YOUR CANDIDATE DOWN".
McCain and Huckabee played Romney like a violin, with his own music sheet of "divide and conquer". Doesn't feel too good when YOUR candidate is "divided out of the race", DOES it Romney supporters? That's why I said "Now you know what it's like on our side of the fence". Maybe next election we'll focus on ISSUES, and chuck out flip floppers EARLY ON, BEFORE they have a chance to divide us, instead of clinging onto them just because they look good on TEEVEE.