[PhilCollins]

My congressman is Mark Kirk (of IL), a Republican who is pro-illegal alien, pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay marriage, pro-spending increases, and anti-Iraq surge. He first ran for an open seat, in 2000. 11 Republicans ran, in the primary, and the majority of them were conservative. The conservative vote split, helping him win the primary with 31%. The district has had republican congressmen for the past 30 years, so he won the general elections, five times.

[srmorton]

It seems to me that one problem with the scenario that you describe is the number of conservatives that ran in the primary. It would have been better if the conservatives could have coalesced around one candidate who would then have won the primary and would most likely be in Congress today.