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You said: They were the same, but the constituencies they represent changed, and they didn't change with them, so they lost. We are not going to be able to replace those seats with MORE conservative candidates. That will merely intrench the Democrats who won.
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I agree with your statements above. The question then becomes, should conservatives/republicans modify their positions so as to enhance their chances of being elected, or should they maintain their conservative philosophy and values, arguing for same and hoping for a return to sanity of the citizenry?

I support the latter course. What I disliked most about the democrat campaign was the absolute refusal to take principled positions on any issues, choosing instead to run on a "change" platform, without advising the electorate as to what kind of "change" was planned. (I think we know what change was planned, but voters don't seem to ask this question.) I hope that republicans don't modify their positions solely to get elected, but then, they are politicians, who see their job as doing what is necessary to get elected. If there is any reason for despair, that is it.

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I agree with your statements above. The question then becomes, should conservatives/republicans modify their positions so as to enhance their chances of being elected, or should they maintain their conservative philosophy and values, arguing for same and hoping for a return to sanity of the citizenry?

I support the latter course. What I disliked most about the democrat campaign was the absolute refusal to take principled positions on any issues, choosing instead to run on a "change" platform, without advising the electorate as to what kind of "change" was planned. (I think we know what change was planned, but voters don't seem to ask this question.) I hope that republicans don't modify their positions solely to get elected, but then, they are politicians, who see their job as doing what is necessary to get elected. If there is any reason for despair, that is it.

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I say its the former... And you're not abandoning your principles. You're waking up to the reality that politics is a two way game. Constituents seek to mold their representatives to their way of thinking (this is after all a REPRESENTATIVE form of government) and representatives seek to convince their constituents of the rightness of their policies (this is called leadership). In the end, a successful politician finds a balance between the two. In the end though, you don't get to engage in either exercise unless you WIN ELECTIONS.

EVERYBODY has to be willing to be flexible to a degree... As voters, we have to be flexible enough to realize that NO OTHER PERSON, not our parents, our children, our spouses or OUR REPRESENTATIVES are EVER going to feel EXACTLY the same way about EVERY topic that we do. We have to pick our battles. We have to know which issues we can give a little on, and which issues to fight on. And we have to know when SIMPLY SURVIVING TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY is a victory. For me, the biggest issue is general CONTROL of all three branches of government by Republicans, because otherwise we get ZERO of what we want, and worse, we get what we don't want crammed down our throats.