And like most of us Freepers you probably didn't vote for either in the primaries and we got them as our candidates anyway. In order for a true conservative to win he has to pull a Reagan and get his message over the press. He has to have the personality to pull the Bush republicans and independents to vote for him both in the primaries and general election without giving up his values. There are several conservatives that I would vote for in a heartbeat but my vote isn't the only one they need.
In my lifetime, Reagan was the high water mark for conservatism (such as it was). America isn’t really a conservative country; never was, so we can be appalled but shouldn’t be surprised at what we see now. There’s no going back IMO, so we must go forward. The road isn’t pretty, and I fully expect it to take us through global moral, cultural, and societal collapse. If I lacked faith I’d be very discouraged indeed.