Well, I can’t prove a negative. No one knows what might have happened if, say, duncan hunter or Fred Thompson would have run. But hold on, they did...and they got voted down.
I think conservatism is not as popular as you fondly think.
Poll after poll proves that a majority of the nation supports conservative positions. And the presidential elections I cited also prove it. Hell, even the last Congressional election supports it---the Demos won largely because they ran "more conservative" (i.e. anti-abortion, pro-gun ownership) Democrats in many areas of red states, hand-selected by Rahm Emanuelle, specifically to put the sheep-skin over the Democrat wolf.
If it isn't today - it soon will be.
Americans are going to absolutely stunned over the next few years.