Well, I’d say an equal reason why conservatism is in trouble is because so many of our “spokesmen” and representatives make their arguments so poorly compared to their liberal opposition. This especially in races below the Presidential level. We have so few Gingrich’s, Wests, and Reagans...
Yes, the Dems have their Bidens, Ted Kennedys and so on, and they are protected by the MSM, but, I listened to Akin’s interviews on Hannity, who (Hannity) was really quite gentle with him (Akin). Afterward, I recall thinking “Oh my goodness, I hope not many moderates were listening to that...”
Consider: How many times have any of us been listening to a debate, whether local or national, and the Dem / lib candidate leaves an opening you could drive a large truck through, and “our guy” instead trips on his own feet or runs into the guardrail?
“Our” candidates do not need to be moderate - nay, they should not be. But they sure as heck need to be able to persuade a few moderates. Otherwise, “our guys” are just peeing into the wind...
Whenever you see someone on the gop side with both their feet in their mouth, just remember: they won their primary. Which in my view is about the absolute worst way to select a candidate imaginable. But the gop, like the dems, wants to have the taxpayers subsidize their internal operations. So we have a bunch of people whose attachment to the political party in question amounts to being able to write the name of the party on a form when they register to vote selecting the candidates. Not the people who will actually have some blood sweat and tears invested in getting the candidate elected.
Its changing, though. I was shocked to learn that our Va gop decided against having a primary for next year’s governors race. Its expensive but it results in the selection of better candidates and limits the damage to the candidate that emerges from the selection process.