Convenient historical revisionism. Conservative - and those who claim to be conservatives like you, uby - will always say that the nominee lost because they weren't conservative enough. Always.
Nope, just pointing it out, that when you nominated "electable" moderates, YOU LOSE.
Let's look again.
Goldwater 64 - the most conservative of all the candidates in generations then and since, was crushed.
Actually, if you read my thread on Demographics, Goldwater was the last guy to run before the reallignment. THere wasn't really an argument on the social issues or the military ones at that point. Everyone believed in Jay-a-zus and everyone thought our military should kick ass with impunity. The only argument was how big the rest of government should be, and the Democrats had been winning that argument since 1932.
The argument that Goldwater got crushed means Conservatives don't work is kind of retarded. Do you really think Rockerfeller would have done better? Not really. LBJ had an economy at it height (we had a middle class back then), was wearing the mantle of a martyred president, and was pretty much the most talented politician of his generation. Sadly, whenever you "moderates" want to argue, "No, no, no, we can't nominated a conservative, look what happened to Goldwater"
Nixon 68 - in a time of strife because of an unpopular war so great the sitting President chose not to run, Nixon promised to end the war and won. Also, civil strife in the South had damaged the Democrats. His election was as much about the Democrats as the himself.
But that "civil strife" was because traditional values and America's military supremecy was under attack by hippies. That's the point. When the Social and Security issues were abandoned by the Democrats, that's what Put Nixon over the top.
Nixon 72 - Nixon hardly governed as a conservative. The Democrats nominated the most liberal of all the candidates then and since.
Again, Nixon didn't just win. He won 49 states.
Ford 76 - Ford pardoned Nixon, the public was disgusted by Watergate, inflation was rising and there was an oil embargo and gas lines.
Again, you skip over the fact that Ford was a Rockerfeller Republican, who believed in increasing Washington's power. He was challenged by Reagan and almost lost. More to the point, what everyone forgets today is that Jimmy Carter ran as a social conservative. He was even endorsed by Jerry Falwell.
Reagan 80, 84 - Ran as a conservative and won. Proceeded to raise taxes 11 times and gave us the biggest deficits in our history up until that time. Times were good but he governed less from the right than conservatives will admit. A better economy lead to his election.
I've admitted that Reagan was a lot more moderate than his fetishists admit. But still, on social and security issues (the ones you Corporate Repukes only pretend to care about during elections) he was top notch. It should also be pointed out that Reagan cut taxes a lot deeper than he raised them.
Bush 88 - Ran on a "kinder, gentler America." Won. Raised taxes. Just like Reagan did, only 10 fewer times than Reagan.
Bush 92 - Ran as a conservative. "Read my lips, no new taxes." Lost. Stagnant economy lead to his defeat. "It's the economy, stupid."
It was a bit more than that. He also grew government. He also neglected the social issues. And more to the point, he was another clueless rich guy who couldn't tell you how many mansions he owned. What you forget about Nixon and Reagan is that they weren't born rich and they came from humble backgrounds. They got what working folks went through. Bush was clueless.
Also, again, Clinton was pretty close to the center. He executed a retard in order to make sure no one mistook him for Dukakis.
Dole 96 - Clinton benefited from the same dynamic as Reagan did in 84, an expanding and improving economy. Co-opted much of Gingrich's platform.
Bush 00 - "A compassionate conservative." Promised to cut taxes but also promised to improve education, focusing on a traditional soft Democrat issue. Plus, Gore was an awful candidate.
I think you work on the assumption that only Democrats care about education. Now I will admit that the Corporatists don't give a **** about working class kids, but most rank and file do. There is just disagreement how to fix it.
Bush 04 - Oversaw one of the biggest expansions of government since WWII. Cut taxes but increased nondefense, nondiscretionary spending as fast as anyone since LBJ. Oversaw the increase of government intrusion in Americans' lives through security surveillance. Invaded a country. Medicare Part D. Torture. If conservative means "big government," then Bush sure was a conservative in his first four year term.
Again, that assumes you only define "Conservative" as "I hate the Gummit unless it's giving me money".
McCain 08 - Worst economy since the Depression. Enough said. Weariness of war was also a big part.
McCain was trailing Obama consistantly before you BLOODSUCKERS on Wall Street crashed the economy, so please don't blame that. McCain got no traction because he wasn't conservative, and that's why he had to pick Palin. Unfortunately, the Demographics have changed, so it didn't help any.
Conservatives will always attribute their victories to "being conservative" and their losses to "not being conservative enough." This is the mechanism of all partisans and ideologues. It's unobjective.
Especially when it comes from a hater.
Oh, quit snivelling like a little ***** because I am not a hypocrite like you are.
If you aren't signing up for Mormonism tomorrow, then you are a hypocrite. At least I outright call them liars and fools. But you don't believe Joseph Smith was talking to God any more than I do.