At least you have it right, conservatism is a movement. It has no home in any political party. The republican party is merely an empty bottle where we can pour our wine. A republican victory will not mean a victory for libertarian/conservatism. The principles and principled men must win on the strength of their convictions, our aim should be to sway the masses to our side rather than try to move towards what is deemed popular.
We need a new paradigm and model to present out there. Not between liberals versus conservatives, left versus right. But rather our model must get back to basics. We must present an argument defining the difference between the collectivists/statists versus individualists/freemen.