The bottom line is that money still controls most of politics and Romney had the money. The only way around this that I see going forward is for conservatives to come together early on ONE conservative candidate to pool our presidential resources behind.
I’m talking well beyond the boundaries of FR and the Tea Party to one candidate with broad enough support and access to resources that he/she could have both the political clout and the financial clout to win the nomination and represent most of out values (not necessarily all as politics is not about purity but about what you can accomplish).
As I see it, the problem this time was two-fold: a great many conservatives were waiting for Sarah Palin and she wound up leaving us at the altar. By the time she formally stepped out, there were too many quasi-conservatives each getting a small chunk of the vote and fighting each other.
In 2015, we must DEMAND that Palin be in or out far far sooner and have a second choice already clearly in place. Had we gone into June fully and uniformly behind another conservative, be it Cain, Perry, Newt or whomever, that candidate would have stood a far greater chance of winning the nomination and then most would have far less griping to do now.
Ideally, that candidate should be nationally known and tested with a proven track record to run on. Outsiders and gadflies can be popular but they can also have skeletons in the closet that can torpedo the campaign as soon as they come to light.
But, for now, do all you can in down-ballot races and, if you’re in a swing state, see to it that Obama does not win. If you don’t live in a swing state and can’t stomach Romney, leave it blank or write in or go third party or whatever floats your boat but if your state is going to be close, do nothing that is going to help Obama get re-elected.
Basically we need to have a conservative primary before the Republican primary...