[If this polling data is correct, we have a horrible problem,]
What you mean we, Quimosabi?
Some of us have been fighting Romney tooth and nail for six years, the GOPe reaps what it sows. And we haven’t even gotten to the ‘crazy Mormon’ stuff, which Republicans were too delicate to address but are ball breakers.
ike Mary being baptised. “What do you think of that, Mr. President?”
By “we,” I mean Republicans.
I live in the South and I am very much aware that there are still a few conservative Democrats left, but realistically, at this point, being consistently conservative at the national level means being Republican. While there are small numbers of conservatives in various third-party groups, I will consider third parties as a viable option when they show some significant success at getting candidates elected to local, state and national office.
Unfortunately, while conservatives have little choice today except to be Republicans because there is no viable alternative on the national level, the reverse is not true. Being Republican is no guarantee of being a consistent conservative on all three pillars of the conservative agenda — economic, social issues, and national defense — or even being a conservative on **ANY** of those three issues.
If the underlying question is whether I support Romney, the answer is absolutely not. I've had a problem with John McCain since the 2000 elections when he deliberately antagonized Christian conservatives, and I voted for Huckabee in the 2008 Missouri race because by that time my only choices were McCain, Romney or Huckabee. I had initially been willing to consider Romney but became strongly opposed to Romney later on when Free Republic woke me up to just how bad his flip-flopping really was, especially on abortion which is a no-go issue for me.