The majority of Democrats thought Bill Clinton was a scumbag. But that didn't stop them from going out there on election day 1996 to keep their party in power. Many of them didn't like Algore either but nevertheless, they made it out to the polls in huge numbers and came thisclose to winning the election again while stubborn conservative Christians sat on their hands because they were miffed that Bush wasn't "100% pure." It didn't matter to them that Bush was probably the most genuine Christian to run since Jimmy Carter. If Bush wasn't perfect, by golly, they were going to stay home and listen to Anita Bryant records. Or burn Harry Potter books. Or vote Buchanan just for spite.
Guess what? We are never going to have a perfect candidate for president. I don't think there is even an electable person out there who will please these fundamentalist Christians.
So long as these single-issue, all-or-nothing conservative voters fold their arms and refuse to vote for anybody who is not 100% lock-step with their beliefs, we are going to continue to see Democrats or RINOS get elected.
If all the conservatives could suck it in and vote for their party, the Republicans will gain a large majority in this country. Then we can focus on making the candidates more pure once we obtain power. Until then, we are going to struggle just to avoid losing the White House in 2004, while the Democrats rally around whatever smooth-talking, disingenous slimeball they dredge up for next time.
Correct! An "all-or-nothing" attitude guarantees you'll get nothing.
In the meantime, the other side incrementally aquires exactly what it wants.
You are so dead wrong it is amazing! Once you've demonstrated that you will vote for a less-than-acceptable Republican because you "fear" the Democrat may be elected instead, what sway do you pretend you can hold over that person? The correct answer, for anyone who knows the first thing about politics, is NONE. They know that you will vote for them so long as they have the magic "R" behind their name, and you have forfeited any measure of authority because you are unwilling to vote them out of office.
So much for "make them pure". Sounds good on paper, but it doesn't work in the real world. What happens is that more and more centrist Republicans get elected.