Santorum and Allen lost because of the general anti-GOP climate in last year's midterms. People are uncomfortable with a single party holding power in Washington for too long.
independent voters decide these elections. the conservatives can either be part of a winning coalition, or they can be spoilers and toss it to the Dems.
There's no such thing as an independent, moderate, or "undecided" voter. It is a totally fabricated ruse the MSM and Dims use to force the GOP candidate to become more liberal so the lines can blur & the voter will just vote for the Dim. Whatever beliefs they hold fall within the majority of either party. All the GOP has to do is draw a sharp, clear contrast to the Democrats and the voter would draw his/her own conclusion that conservatism would be the best for him/her after all.
plenty of people I know, including members of my own family, fall into the "independent" voting block. My 6 relatives in Florida all voted for Bush, they could care less about social issues. just because everyone here on FR is wired into politics, that is far from the norm amongst americans at large.