The (ultimately) more serious and long-term source of Republican party rot, on the other hand -- that of the GOP-e's every last baseline electoral assumption being not just wildly ineffectual, but suicidal, outright -- not so very much, in comparison.
If the GOP-e can't even competently champion and promote candidates capable of not causing a significant portion of the conservative voting base from turning away with a barely-repressed shudder, at barest minimum: the 'Rats won't ever NEED to cheat, from this point forward.
But the GOP-e and Romney in particular have not even mentioned it. They are the ones with the money and the clout to investigate it.
The (ultimately) more serious and long-term source of Republican party rot, on the other hand -- that of the GOP-e's every last baseline electoral assumption being not just wildly ineffectual, but suicidal, outright -- not so very much, in comparison. If the GOP-e can't even competently champion and promote candidates capable of not causing a significant portion of the conservative voting base from turning away with a barely-repressed shudder, at barest minimum: the 'Rats won't ever NEED to cheat, from this point forward.
I cannot disagree with you at all on these fine points.
The "conservative voting base" had it's shot in the primary with FOUR YEARS to find an alternative. Romney won. Some of those "conservatives" refused to vote Romney because he was a Mormon. Don't pretend otherwise; you can read their posts here on FR.
If four more years of Obama was not enough motivation for these so-called "conservatives" to cast a vote, make calls, get like-minded individuals to the polls, then they are unworthy cowards more concerned with purity than getting things done.
They should be continue to be marginalized further and further because they've made it clear no effort to appeal to them will be sufficient even in the face of something as grave as Obama having a second term for his "fundamental transformation" agenda.