I have to admit, I have been a member since 2004, but I can’t think of many things on the part of supposed conservatives that have made me boiling angry as this attitude has.
I have always viewed conservatism as possessing an intellectual foundation of a blend of logic, realism and pragmatism. This attitude from some “conservative” quarters regarding the candidacy of someone like Scott Brown tears that idea to pieces.
And I have to ask what don’t they like? He isn’t for expanding abortion rights or gay rights. He isn’t a for more spending or more government control. It is like they don’t realize where he is running. The idea that he is even close given his very conservative record should be inspirational not something to gnash teeth at. He isn’t an Olympia Snow or a Susan Collins Republican. He would be a reliable conservative vote from a state that hasn’t produced one in many years. I’ve been working in the North East and I believe it is ripe for a conservative resurgence. We need to stop typecasting regions and instead learn to speak to the common sense conservatism that most people intrinsically understand. It is the opposition that wants to divide us and weaken us and they are succeeding if we oppose someone like Scott Brown. Soon we will have no one left to support.
It's not just Scott Brown, though.... you see it everywhere on FR and elsewhere. I think what we're seeing is a sort of conservative populism, rooted mostly in a visceral, emotional dislike of the direction of the country. That dislike is justified ... but there's generally not much acknowledgement of the practical issues involved in reversing the trend.
The Tea Party movement is a good example of this: there's a lot of pent-up emotion, but very little direction or political strategy beyond showing displeasure.
Sarah Palin's supporters also show this tendency: witness the real venom they display over dissenting opinions; those who are not fans, "hate" her. She is now commonly portrayed as an alternative to "elitism."
And, of course, there's the ridiculous and ubiquitous "RINO" accusation, which has the benefit of being so broad as to be pretty much meaningless: I've discovered that those who use the term are generally unable to define a "true Republican." Purity is undefined, but nevertheless required -- and that helps to explain the fractured state of conservatism.