This isn't a black and white issue. Ideally you nominate that most conservative candidate who CAN win their district, state, etc.
There are awful lot of stubborn purists on our side who wouldn't have nominated a guy like Rudy Giuliani for mayor of NYC because he wasn't pure enough on the social issues. Now I wouldn't want Giuliani as a statewide candidate, and I definitely would not ever want him as our presidential candidate, but for mayor of NYC he was the best we are going to do. And as it turned out, he did one hell of a great job turning that city around.
EW Jackson never had the slightest chance of winning statewide in VA, so what was the point a pastor on the ticket that would only drag it down?
Nominate the most conservative candidates that CAN win. Reagan understoond that sometimes you gotta take less than 100% of what you want. If the Democrat supports 0% of my policies, an electable Republican supports 75%, and an unelectable Republican supports 100% - I'll take that electable Republican every time.
You’re making way too much sense not to get mercilessly flamed for posting that here. That kind of common-sense thinking can be very unwelcome.
Friend, you appear to be stuck in an obsolete political mindset. We've passed the point of business-as-usual with this game. There's now an undeclared civil war going on, and the other side is hell bent on overthrowing the Constitution and 240 years of American culture and history. The worst among them would have no problem shipping you and I off to some gulag, never to be seen again.
Political candidates on our side either understand this, and are willing to stand up and fight for our basic American ideals, or they're not. Squish RINOs who 'play ball' with Commies, are as much our enemies as the Commies themselves.
Obama and his ilk aren't some temporary aberration of the Democrat party. They are the full, overt expression of where that party truly is today, and they're not going away any time soon.
The country as a whole is becoming more and more polarized to the right and left. The moderate middle is emptying out. People are choosing sides. Mealy mouthed politicians who continue to campaign and govern within the paradigm of yesteryear, are either devoid of real character, or they're establishment drones. There is no middle ground in reality.
You say that we're losing political battles over the issue of ideological purity. You're right about that, but the underlying reason we lose those battles these days, is because the people are already ahead of the politicos, and know that we're in a fight for our very survival. They will rightfully continue to shun candidates who don't have the character to choose a side in this pivotal moment in history.