A politely asked question deserves a politely crafted answer.
Short answer is that I don’t know if there is a road to victory here. But focusing on that misses the bigger picture: whether conservatives win is not measured in one election cycle. The bigger message here is the one that was sent to the hundreds of conservatives who were thinking that hey, I might want to run for office. What was the message that was sent to them? Make one slip up and the entire gop apparatus is coming down on you like a pile of bricks. Dumb, dumb, and triply dumb.
Ego driven personality? If so, then the approach was dumb to the 4th power.
Maybe you and other conservatives thinking of running for office haven't figured out an even bigger reality than the faux concern you mention: The GOP apparatus is set up to seek and destroy any and all "real conservatives" whether they screw up or not. The GOP grudgingly support conservatives with a sterling record of impeccable character and intellect.
One thing you should realize is the bar is set really high for conservatives- in the GOP and even more so in the media and throughout society. That's reality. So supporting a guy that has failed to clear that bar is unproductive. I know it isn't fair. But life isn't fair. Akin screwed up and now he's dog meat. He and his supporters should wake up and realize that.