I agree with you, a certain number of politicians will shoot themselves in the foot, but we need to remember that when a conservative does it, the MSM will be all over the mistake 24/7. If a progressive makes that kind of mistake, he or she apologizes and we move on.
All I am saying and have said it before: conservatives need to be more careful about what they say in public.
But you must realize Rovian candidates are seen as conservative and equally embarrassable by the MSM. Or if not equally, since there are slight exceptions like McCain (when he isn’t running against Obama), the difference is marginal. Take the quintessentially Rovian Pub, Bush the Younger. While no particular soundbite sunk his career, the MSM was indefatigable in reporting his everyday “gaffes,” real and imagined. The media malpractice in introducing America to Sarah Palin was uniquely blatant. However, when you think back to the last guy in her position, Dick Cheney, if the treatment was different (stupid versus evil, respectively) still it wasn’t electorally propitious.
My point is there’s no reason to prefer Rove’s handpicked candidates to Tea Party types on the issue of conservative mouth-watching.