The worst thing about that strategy is that no discernable lesson is taught, or is learned.
The people you'd need to convince by such a strategy aren't the politicians, but the voters who choose which Republican is the nominee in a particular race. And I've yet to meet a voter who said "I'm going to vote differently next time because the guy I liked in the primary lost the general election."
Plus, in virtually every case, there are far too many opinions as to why a particular candidate lost for any particular "lesson" to be taught. Every time a Republican loses in a general election, you have some people who think "he lost the support of the base because he wasn't conservative enough", and others who believe "he chased away swing voters because was too conservative". So a loss caused by people abstaining doesn't necessarily push the next candidate in the direction desired by the voter who abstained, because there is never policy-based agreement as to why he lost.
If someone abstains because they simply want the guy to lose, that's rational. Abstaining because you want to "send a message" isn't.
You have a point. The consistent leftward drift in the GOP has been because of the interpretation of the 'message' as one of being too Conservative. The result has been one of Conservatives eventually realizing they don't have a dog in this fight any more, and the policies become ever more Liberal.
Third Party doesn't help much, at least not yet, possibly not ever, partly because of the serious false dichotomy ingrained in the national normalcy bias when it comes to electoral politics, and partly because some of the third parties are just leftwing kooks who want their particular vice legalized.
In the midst of that clamor, it is difficult to hear the voice of those who simply want a return to our Constitutional Republic, and the
uberliberal MSM will make sure that message is drowned out or obscured, favoring their spin on things. Anyone in power is immediately threatened by any workable alternative, especially those in the allegedly conservative GOP, and will work arm in arm with the media to further marginalize any other voices.
I cast my ballot on principle when I think it will not lead to absolute disaster by enabling the antithesis to those principles to obtain power, but I am under no delusions that any message regarding the liberal drift of the GOP is getting through. The GOP is not tuned to that frequency, instead seeking (delusionally) to mollify invading socialists and other 'special interest' groups in the quest for the votes they have abandoned.
To give President Trump credit, at least he has made a show of appearing to put America first, which has even the GOP in disarray, because they were heading in the opposite direction. Since I am no clairvoyant, nor prophet, we'll see how that works out. My concern, ever, has been that in the backlash to liberal policy, the battle frames out between nationalists and globalists, without regard for our Constitution.
