The Bush League Republicans made sure we would have no choice but amnesty candidates.
Things had been looking bad for years prior to 2008. After Bush 43 was re-elected, conservatives pinned their hopes on George Allen of Virginia, but he quickly flamed out. Then their choice was Fred Thompson, but he had no fire in the belly. In desperation, many of us switched to Romney, but he promptly went bye-bye. So McCain, who even at that time was heartily hated by the GOP's conservative wing, sewed up the nomination virtually without a fight.