Right about Dukakis vs. Bush, but the polls did show D. ahead of GHWB by double digits, and they also showed Mondale (there! I finally remembered the correct liberal nonentity!) ahead of Reagan.
The liberal wing of the Rep. Party has played this game for decades. "------ (fill in name of conservative candidate) can't win. Therefore we need to nominate ------ (fill in Rockefeller, Romney, GHWB, Rudy, Romney...or the latest liberal Rep. fad of the moment)."
Yep. It's amazing that anybody would still fall for it.
The most conservative Republican out there, Newt Gingrich, doesn't have a prayer of winning a general election, so sometimes it's true. Was George H.W. Bush the most conservative Republican running in 1988? Nooooo....Was George W. Bush the most conservative Republican running in 2000? Nooooo.....so sometimes the most conservative Republican doesn't get the nomination. If Rudy gets it, this will be no different than the past.