If people take the choice that other people make (their fellow Americans, keep in mind), and take it out on candidates that they agree with, they only hurt themselves, oddly, not the people they want to hurt. If the answer to moderates in the party is to hurt conservatives so that more moderates get elected, how does this hurt moderates?

In the end, Presidents and Governors can only define the party people choose to allow them to define the party. Same goes for the MSM. The MSM can only define the party if people decide that is how they want to party defined. See, in my view, the party isn’t in people, or platforms, or the MSM, it is what is in me. I can choose to make the party what I want, and do a little or as much as I want to make a difference in the party.

The main point is the Prez or Guv define the party for everyone else. It trickles down when it is something one portion of the base disagrees with.

A pro-choice Guv or Prez would upset the base and they would take it out on their locals.

And also just look at 06. The fiscal and limited gov base was upset. Sure, look what we got, but the party didn’t help deflect the angst and motivate people to make the diference locally. Nope it was all about Pawlenty at the expense of the MN house and other statewide and CD races. (give or take here and there)

Yes, we can move on if we have a dud at the top of the ticket, but the party needs to aknowledge that there is a dud. they need to remember about the platform/ core differences between us (as a whole) and the Dems. When those lines blur or cross paths, it hurts the local races.

I hope people can ignore the POTUS and focus locally. It is the key to Gov. I thought I had made pretty good cases in the past. I hope the Party is going to do more than they have planned. a lot of people only follow the msm and don’t really understand real grassroots. The party needs to make sure that the local races get some of the spotlight. If they don’t people won’t even know to look.

Not everyone is plugged in the way we are.

Well, it does matter. The president and governor are just the last link in a long chain of elected officials that make a difference in our lives. There are thousands of elected officials, from the city level all the way to the federal. Any of those have a huge influence on how we live our lives, yet it seems like conservatives only pay attention to who a few of them are.

If you need help, there are plenty of groups that support an issue you feel is important. For instance, if you are a fiscal conservative, you should be paying attention to the Club for Growth. They endorse lots of fiscally conservative candidates that need your help.