If people can be swayed by talking heads or party "leaders", there is nothing that can be done about that. Some people can't be bothered to think for themselves while others wish to be thought of as being sophisticated so they go along with the talking heads. It is difficult to overcome human nature but liberals also faced with this problem.
We are probably better off than if Gore or Kerry were elected.
You already had it right. There is no but.
Quit trying to make excuses. The GOPe needs to take a leadership role against this. Sometimes the rank and file cannot do things on their own. What's the point of being a member of a group who won't lift a finger to help you?
When open primaries showed up on the ballot in California, neither the state Republican leadership or the national leadership uttered a word or lifted a finger. Don't you think the GOPe has a vested interest in this? Not a peep!
We had the whole Left thinking it was a swell idea, and a lot of Republicans wondering, because there wasn't so much as a hint that the party leadership saw anything wrong with it.