The flaw in your thinking is that many million registered Republicans voted for Mitt because they seriously thought he was the best candidate.
It really wasn't secret mind control rays from Karl Rove's attic.
The conservative base isn't only not a majority in the country, it is arguably not a majority of the GOP electorate.
We need to make the base bigger.
That's not what I saw and heard throughout the conservative electorate. What I heard consistently was a frank admission that Romney sucked, followed by the desperate claim that Romney didn't suck as bad as Obama.
It really wasn't secret mind control rays from Karl Rove's attic.
I don't know a single conservative who ever thought it was.
The conservative base isn't only not a majority in the country, it is arguably not a majority of the GOP electorate.
Do you work inside the Beltway? Just curious.
We need to make the base bigger.
Do you think continued abject surrender to RINOs will do that?