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Well you may say that but look at the 2008 primaries and tell me if identity politics did not drive them on both sides when they were competitive. Alabama’s results in both are instructive on that front in terms of which counties and precincts broke for whom.

Also, by running a pro-life Catholic at the top of the ticket Joe Robinette Biden would be put on the spot and while he could probably finesse it like Cuomo always did it wouldn’t be good for that ticket overall, if they are the ones who are renominated in 2012.

You may not like identity politics but it is the way things work in this country. There is a reason why you don’t have German politicians getting elected in Rhode Island and that you don’t have Scots-Irish Pentecostals getting elected in Michigan. People just naturally tend to gravitate towards their own. That 90% Romney got in Utah had nothing to do with policy.

And especially when times are tough such as we are in now, that is when people instinctively retreat back into their neighborhoods, back into their groups and become more responsive to identity politics than ever. Now, we can capitalize on that because Obama does have an identity politics weakness but only if we use the right candidate. That candidate should have the right positions but if the choice is between two candidates that both have the same positions (and are conservative) but one has better numbers for identity politics purposes you take the one with the better numbers

“Well you may say that but look at the 2008 primaries and tell me if identity politics did not drive them on both sides when they were competitive”

Yes it did and that is why we need to abandon it.

McCain - RINO, looked like a doddering old fool but had a war/pow background.

Romney - RINO, Mormon so automatically generates some bias against him.

Thompson - Conservative, but looked like a doddering old fool and he quit on us.

Huckster - RINO, biggest attribute was sucking up to McCain and torpedoing Romney.

Guiliani - Rino, took a huge gamble on Florida and lost quickly.

Character, Values, Conservative track record PERIOD.

Do what you want, but as for me NO MORE RINOS PERIOD. I will not vote just to win, I will only vote on principles.

"Yes, I am responsible for Obama winning. It is my stategery.
How is it working out for you?"

Late in October, The American Spectator's The Prowler revealed:
"Former Mitt Romney presidential campaign staffers, some of whom are currently working for Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin's bid for the White House,
have been involved in spreading anti-Palin spin to reporters, seeking to diminish her standing after the election.
'Sarah Palin is a lightweight, she won't be the first, not even the third, person people will think of when it comes to 2012,'
says one former Romney aide, now working for McCain-Palin.
'The only serious candidate ready to challenge to lead the Republican Party is Mitt Romney.
He's in charge on November 5th.'"
The Prowler added: "Some former Romney aides were behind the recent leaks to media, including CNN, that Governor Sarah Palin was a 'diva' and was going off message intentionally."
The Romney supporters in the McCain campaign had access to internal polling which indicated well in advance of the November 4 election that McCain had no chance to win.
So they began working to position their man Mitt for a run in 2012. Just two days after the election,The Palmetto Scoop reported:
"One of the first stories to hit the national airwaves was the claim of a major internal strife between close McCain aides and the folks handling his running mate Sarah Palin."
"I’m told by very good sources that this was indeed the case and that a rift had developed, but it was between Palin’s people and the staffers brought on from the failed presidential campaign of former Gov. Mitt Romney, not McCain aides."
"The sources said nearly 80 percent of Romney’s former staff was absorbed by McCain and these individuals were responsible for what amounts to a premeditated, last-minute sabotage of Palin."
These aides loyal to Romney inside the McCain campaign, said The Scoop, reportedly saw that Palin would be a serious contender for the Republican nomination in 2012 or 2016, which made her a threat to another presidential quest by Romney.
Erick Erickson, who organized Operation Leper, said:
"Here’s what I think: I think there are some staffers on the McCain campaign who seriously screwed up the roll out of Sarah Palin, to which Governor Palin herself objected.
These staffers are now out trying to finish her off thinking, as typical D.C. types do, that if they don’t do it to her, she’ll do it to them. They just never understood who Palin is or what she is about."
"Likewise, I do think there are some staffers and others who expect Mitt Romney to run again in 2012,
they decided McCain could not win, and decided to undermine Sarah Palin and her chances hoping it would ingratiate themselves with Mitt Romney."

"Who's the Palin Leaker from the McCain Campaign? (Mark Wallace, Romney pimp)
National Review Online The publication of a Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin
appears to have opened old wounds in the McCain campaign.
... the source of the “Diva” leak was Nicolle Wallace’s husband."

Who benefits most from Sanford meltdown? Californian (that's right) Mitt Romney

"Peeking Out From the McCain Wreckage: Mitt Romney"

"Someone's got to say it: IS MITT ROMNEY RESPONSIBLE FOR OBAMA'S VICTORY?"

"Vanity: Team Romney Sabotaged Palin and Continuing to Do So?"

"Romney Supporters Trashing Palin"

"Romney advisors sniping at Palin?"

Poor sport spoiler Romney doing what he does best:

Novak: "Fred Thompson drop-out rumors traced to Romney campaign"

Said Novak: "The rumors were traced in part to Mitt Romney's campaign,
trying to stir up strife between McCain and Thompson."

"Despite outspending his rivals by huge margins throughout the primaries,
(Mitt Romney, Carpetbagger UT,CA,MA,NH,Mexico) lost Iowa, South Carolina, Florida and California.
The only primaries he won were in Michigan, where Dad was governor; LDS states;
and a few states on Super Tuesday in which his California-obsessed rivals
couldn't spare the cash to advertise.
Only John Connolly in 1968 had a worse cash-to-delegates ratio.
And John McCain rightly did not like Romney's tactics during the primaries.
(W)hen (Romney's early leads) started slipping away, he resorted to unfair,
distorted, scorched-earth negative ads, betting that his opponents couldn't
afford to spend enough for the truth to catch up to his charges."
[Romney: A Mistake for McCain, 7/23/2008, Dick Morris]