Immigration is the best example. Just like Dimocrats, many got carried away on the tide of news coming from the MSM and instantly got angry. Illegal immigration has been a concern of mine since the 80s but most people gave it no thought until the MSM riled them up and got the exact reaction they wanted.
Bush got the blame for all of it and that wasn't the case. It was first the Reagan amnesty and then the elder Bush, who actually tried but couldn't get anything done and then the Clinton administration who actively made it worse and then Bush who didn't seem to be doing much. He was, but 9/11, of course, took much of his attention and many, many of the already stretched thin BP were transferred to the Canadian border which was very sparsely covered. It has taken time to train new agents and get them down on the border. The National Guard has made an immense difference.
With a majority controlled by the Dims we will be more likely to get another amnesty bill and though some of those anti-illegal immigration people voted GOP this election, they had sown so much enmity in the wake of their anger that there were many that they influenced who didn't. Those wishy-washy voters just hear and think about those things which are trumpeted the loudest.
I'm not advocating rolling over and acquiesing to every RINOs bill. I'm not saying the conservatives should support the GOP even when they go against our principles, I am saying we need to be reasonable and not just complain online but call and write all those who are against our positions and do it in numbers that they can't ignore. Be an activist, not a whiner, bitcher or complainer. MAKE the RINOs listen to us.
But in the end, if a RINO is actively against our core values and can't be changed we have to get rid of them while not poisoning all the water.
I don't buy the spin that the base stayed home. They may have held their noses, but they were there. We lost the center this time. And we truly lost the center because the center actually for the most part agrees with conservative principles, but unlike the hardcore base, they will consider voting for Democrats, which is precisely what they did.