The "conservative vote" was also without a conservative champion to vote for. All of the so-called conservative candidates were seriously flawed. Each of Newt, Santorum, Perry, Bachman, et al had shortcomings that as candidates...and as conservatives.
I agree with that. Another poster mentioned Dem crossover voters who wanted to shut out any conservative which I'm sure was a factor.
All candidates have shortcomings, as I'm sure you'll concede, but who are those who do not have major shortcomings? Rubio too young and inexperienced, ditto Paul Ryan. I could go on and it would be easy to cite shortcomings for any potential candidate. Even Ronald Reagan had shortcomings. Abraham Lincoln is my favorite historical figure and he is pilloried with regularity for his shortcomings on FR.