do they? why don't they win nominations?i find it amazing how often people are redefined according to what the poster needs.
sometimes George HW Bush is a conservative, sometimes he isn't. Sometimes W is conservative, sometimes he isn't.
i think what you find is that by and large moderates win.
George W Bush ran as a conservative but in actuality was a NEOCONSERVATIVE, and that is more conservative than the moderate wing of the party; they just dont take social issues seriously. But W was pro-life, pro-military, proJudeo-Christian, pro-energy, pro-gun rights, etc.
His dad also ran as a conservative then broke his pledge to not raise taxes so 1992 was considerably different for him than 1988.
Romney talked like the most arch-conservative in the country, but his record was exactly the opposite, so about half the c onservatives I know stayed home on election eve and that is the trend when moderates get the nomination no matter how much they lie about it later.
And no, by and large conservatives beat moderates every time.