The elite is smarter than you think. They know that most conservatives (including most people on this site) DID cover for McCain in 2008 by voting for him. Those folks will do the same if Romney is the nominee in 2012. I don't like it but it is a simple fact. They will be "scared" into it as they were last time.
Tell the truth. Most conservatives didn't "cover" for McCain until Sarah Palin showed up. FR was like a morgue until that moment, then suddenly sprang back to life.
Even during the campaign, most Freepers were saying that they were voting for Palin.
Had McCain chosen anyone else as his running mate, he would have been beaten in a crushing landslide by Obama. I wouldn't have even wasted my time voting for the Republican ticket if Palin hadn't been on it. With her, we actually stood a chance. Without her - no chance.
In the general election, McCain the RINO was still the better choice when compared to Obama. Heck, there was always the chance he’d have to resign due to health reasons and leave it to Palin.
We need to make sure the primary election in 2012 gives us a candidate we can vote for without holding our noses, but we learned our lesson about third parties with Perot, and even RINOs are better than Dims.
In 2008 primaries, all the conservative candidates had dropped out before they reached CA. The timing of the Primaries in each state fed us RINOs.
We need to end cross-over votes in the primary. The RINOs had entirely too much fun in 08. Take Powell for example. First he wanted McCain to win. Then he endorsed Obama.
If crossover votes ruin our primary in 2012, it could mean third party madness, split votes, a president Obama, a leftist supreme court, universal voter with busloads of foreigners on Super Tuesday, and new voting computers with the 0 logo manned by ACORN workers.