Compared to the field of candidates, Fred appears decidedly conservative and is on the record as a federalist. There may be a couple of candidates who are more conservative, but none that have a smidgen of a chance to win the nomination or be elected.
Not as long as the majority Republican voters have that kind of mindset.
But imagine if every conservative voter decided to vote for "THE BEST CHOICE" in the primaries, instead of the "guy most likely to win in the general election".
Just imagine!
But hey, even if the primaries are the one place we can put substance over style and get what we want, this is how we've been trained to think and respond.
So when we settle for an "OK GUY WITH HIGH POLL NUMBERS" we get just that.
I like Fred, but, IMHO, he is not the best we can do. He's (allegedly) the best we can win with.