If memory serves me, there were two RINOs in the primaries, and only one of those was ever a factor in the race.
There were five conservatives and one libertarian.
If the discussions on this board were any indication, every single one of these six had something in their personality, mannerisms, beliefs, plans, or background that rendered them unacceptable to a segment of the FR population.
There was never any consensus amongst FReepers as to which of those should be the nominee, and the viciousness with which they attacked supporters of other (non-Romney) candidates was disturbing, to say the least. Just about every candidate was accused of being a stalking horse for someone else, and FReepers who were vocal in their support of their choice were slandered as “bots”.
It might be personally comforting to point the finger of blame at Romney, the GOP-E, the media, etc. but the real problem was that we had a marginal set of choices to begin with. Once the field started to thin out, the ones that remained were so involved with their own ego trips that they were never able to agree to stand aside for any of the other candidates for the good of the country.
The general voting public seemed to have the same reaction as people on this board, in spite of all those who dismiss them as being uninvolved.
I’m not a fan of Romney in any way, and for the record, I voted for Newt in the primary. But the fact remains, Romney never stopped running after the 2008 election, and you have to give him some credit for having his act together organizationally, something the others were never able to achieve.
The best example of that was the snafu in Virginia.
The Tea Party movement is a hopeful sign, but it needs to become more organized and focused to the point where it can be a force for supporting true conservative baggage-free candidates, especially at the national level, and give them the organizational backing that they would need to compete with the establishment candidates.
I despise them all and the sooner that we purge incumbents and elect NEW representatives to the House and Senators to the Senate... the happier I will be. Take Mississippi... a most Conservative state... cochran, wicker and palazzo are ALL DC beltway party hacks to their core. It took less than 10 minutes in DC in 2010 for trent lott to “co-opt” palazzo. When confronted... he said, “You just do not understand how DC works. I have to go along to get committee positions to bring the bacon home”. We responded, “We know damned well how DC works... you ran as a TEA Party candidate and we sent you to DC to stand with other Conservatives and to try and stop the way DC works. We sent you there... not to bring home Federal dollars... we sent you to DC to stop Mississippi dollars from going there in the first place... to cut government size and spending and to return to Constitutional governance”.
I can assure you that I voted against ALL incumbents in our primary... and I too voted for Newt. We had no other choice... mitt paid political mechanics to destroy Sarah Palin and any possibility that she could successfully mount a challenge to his ordained kingship. He spent over 100 million dollars in ads attacking Santorum and Newt. He destroyed Herman Cain... and the trails lead right back to mitt's bunkhouse.
I am now forced to vote for wicker and palazzo... cochran retires in 2014. I will vote for them but romney... no way... never... I will not vote for a progressive, gun grabbing, abortion loving, gay marriage endorsing, big dig criminal conspirator, socialized medicine loving habitual liar... that my friend will NEVER happen. You guys will have to drag him across the finish line without my help.
I am also giving to Conservative candidates and PACS... but the gop can get their ca$h from the Northeastern, Blue Blood, Country Club set... working Americans have no money left for such liars and thieves.
LLS