You're correct - it does work, because it is *easy* to get caught up in an emotional argument. How much BS legislation has been passed due to "it's not fair!" being the clarion call from the lips of politicians.
What I want is a level-headed conservative to stand up and say look, these things I believe in are proven to work. Less taxes = more jobs and more revenue. Abortion = bad because of the taking of life plus it kills our future workforce causing us to import labor and all of the problems that brings. And so on.
What causes people to tune you out (not you specifically but the royal you) is when you say dumb stuff like "We conservatives should hate liberals and centrists - on principle and policy grounds" and other ridiculous crap like that. You really want Bill O'Reilly being associated with conservatism? Guys like that are ***holes, no matter what their politics. Just like Franken, Rhodes, and all fools on the left.
To get conservatism back on track you need to pull the moderates over and make them understand that conservatism does not equal cronyism, or corruption, or hypocritical beliefs as contrasted with a politicians personal life. We want reasonable. Not vitriolic. Would you give car keys to a teenager who went around screaming "I'm gonna kill that sonuvabitch for touching my girlfriend!". No, you'd get him to calm down, think about it, and then beat the crap out of the other kid at a later date.
Face it, the GOP blew it in the last ten years. They completely wandered off the reservation. That is why conservatives are losing ground. Its the people in our own party.
I couldn't agree more - it is the people within our party.
I think its more than a coincidence that the demise of the conservatives happened in tandem with the 'kinder gentler, new tone' GOP.
Its one thing to wish the right wing of your party away because you disagree with them.
Its another to blame them for their own marginalization.
Its the 'centrists' who have disenfranchized conservatives (the passionate core of the GOP), ergo its the centrists who are cause of the GOP current problems.