You are taking your view of what happened and assuming that everyone else saw it that same way you did. I think that's incorrect, and honestly, I don't know how you can possibly know that. Whether you or they ultimately are correct as to why he lost is immaterial -- it is their perceptions that will control the lessons they draw from Romney's defeat.
Look, I largely agree with you on that. But if we both are correct on that, don't you see that the idea of "sending a message" by not supporting a nominee in the general election is doomed to failure? I'm not saying that you or anyone else should vote for a candidate with whom they disagree simply because he's the party's nominee. Trump is a bridge too far for me as well. All I'm saying is that if the purpose of abstaining is to send a message, that's not a very good reason because the message is neither clearly sent, nor clearly received.
I do not see a nominee losing the election as empowering the party.
Bill, It's not what I saw happen. It's what did happen.
You understand Pavlovian conditioning, correct? For years now the GOP offers a couple things. One of those things is fear. Look across any site on the net and you will find no end of people that are convinced to the point of religious zealotry that only the GOP can win and we have to vote GOP no matter what or the world is literally going to end.
Right on this thread, this site we see it day in and day out.. No one lives in deep space, woke up one morning and had the light of God strike them with the words "Vote GOP or die". We have been conditioned for DECADES actually that it's a 2 party system and to vote any other way is madness. Literal madness if you listen to Romney, Trump, Bush2, McCain, Dole, and Bush1 people.
Now when thats they type the party tells you is your salvation, and that's the type the party tells you that will end they tyranny and the party ONLY supports, fronts and promotes that type, it's not really shocking that we the people react like Pavlovian dogs rather than get zapped by voting for anything but we were told to.
And we see examples of the behavior in nature. No Pavlov required. Throw a bunch of crabs into the boiling water. The rest of the crabs lock on and drag the one that tries to save himself back down. Since humans are in theory at least smarter than crabs (though evidence in hands makes me doubt it strongly), we use words, justification, rationalization and excuses.
It's a lesser evil...
We gotta do this this time because...next time we can vote your way but THIS time is too... (rinse/repeat every election)
A vote for X is a vote for Hillary/Obama/Anyone but who the vote is actually cast FOR.
And a thousand just like it.
Did that God ray bring us that information/revelation? No. We were programmed with it. And we refuse to even accept the premise. Because once we accept the truth of the premise, it leads to the realization that yes. we allowed ourselves to be manipulated. And most would rather die proud and ignorant with a gut full of kool aid than admit that much of their life was spent being herded like sheep.
Someone is doing that herding. Someone created the circumstance we allow ourselves to be subjected to unthinkingly.
There are exactly two options here. Two. You/we continue being led, or not. There is zero middle ground.
1: You continue electing your problems
2: You change course.
At the end of the day you do not have any wiggle room. You do one or the other. If you choose option 1, then the programming worked, the GOP keeps moving left and you are in fact/have become the very thing you hate. The uninformed LIV that emotes and feels rather than the Conservative that believes in right//wrong/constitutional governance.
The GOP is governing as leftists.
The people the GOP offers up are increasingly liberal
Those are facts born out by history. As is the determination by the majority of the right to vote for and ONLY FOR the people the GOP feeds them.
So the idea of constitutional governance by electing Republicans from the GOP is as absurd as drying off by jumping in a pool filled with water.
