I don't know that you can blame McCain's defeat on the social cons.
McCain simply had too much baggage for many Republicans to support him. CFR, amnesty, global warming, etc., have nothing to do with social conservatism. Indeed, abortion and judges were one thing that McCain was likely to be relatively okay on (though you couldn't be certain).
However, if a number of social cons had chosen to adopt a "my way or the highway" attitude toward McCain, I could fully understand -- after what he did in 2000.
McCain is a vengeful and opportunistic politician who was probably way short in a critical area: presidential temperament. His pissing all over social cons in 2000 when he lost the primaries reveals his inadequacies in this regard.
In short, McCain was absolutely the worst GOP nominee since, perhaps, Thomas E. Dewey. He came as close as he did (10 MM votes) because a lot of people who hated his guts voted for him. For that, he should be grateful...
Better than Obama? To be sure. Better than Bob Dole? I don't think so.
“In short, McCain was absolutely the worst GOP nominee since, perhaps, Thomas E. Dewey”.
No, I’d say Nixon was our worst nominee wouldn’t you? But he kept Humphrey and McGovern out of the big chair, his two only shining achievements. Yes McCain’s defeat can’t be placed squarely at the feet of social cons, he pissed of many factions but dammit we should have all pulled together and kept Obama out of office. Because it comes down to this, any republican is better than any democrat. When the nominee is picked, it is up to the base to get 100% behind him. Obama just proves my point.