So instead of saying people who do this are wrong, I want to give them something to think about. Perhaps it will help them see things a little differently.
What we have been trying hasn't worked. We slide farther left every single year. At some point this has to stop, or we lose the nation we love no matter which party is in power.
I don't find anything wrong with that argument as written, but it certainly implies a causal link that hasn't been proven. Namely, that the reason the country has slipped to the left is because conservatives or Republicans are willing to vote for the lesser of two evils. But I don't think that has anything to do with it.
The problem isn't conservatives voting for the lesser of two evils. The problem is that the horde of liberals and mushy-minded moderates all get to vote too, and they don't want the same people we do. The stark reality is that conservatives are not the majority in this country. So if we want conservatives to win Presidential elections, we have to be fortunate enough to either 1) be running against a really crummy, uncharismatic Democrat, or 2) have a truly great conservative candidate.
Unfortunately, neither of those was available to us in this campaign cycle. I don't see that as a justification to give up on opposing the greater of two evils because of the greater damage that can be done by that greater evil. And, it seems obvious to me that conservatives are certainly going to have more influence over a GOP President than a Democrat who will be pandering to his base heavily his entire second term.
Just because the President is a Republican doesn't mean conservatives can't loudly and strongly oppose his policies with which we disagree. As much of a squishy moderate as Bush was on some issues, I think most of us would agree this country would be in even worse shape if Gore of Kerry had been elected in his stead. And it does us no good if the patient dies before we can find the right doctor.