So obviously all of the Republicans have abhorrent views, but let's pretend that I'm "fair" or whatever by not automatically labeling them all as such.
ABH = Abhorrent views
ELE = Electability
AGN = Shrewd ability to push their agenda through
| Cand. | ABH | ELE | AGN |
| Trump | YES | NO | YES |
| Cruz | YES | ?-?-? | NO |
| Rubio | YES | YES | YES |
| Carson | YES | NO | NO |
| Bush | NO | YES | YES |
| Christie | NO | YES | YES |
| Kasich | NO | YES | YES |
| Fiorina | YES | NO | YES |
| Paul | YES | NO | NO |
| Huckabee | YES | NO | NO |
| Graham | YES | YES | YES |
| Pataki | NO | YES | NO |
| Santorum | YES | NO | NO |
| Gilmore | NO | YES | NO |
Well then I guess they're in the same group and of the same number as the people who won't vote for Hillary if Bernie isn't the nominee. A negligible sum that will only affect the closest of races. It's not "millions": you guys really need to get over the whole "if they're not
real conservatives then 'millions' will stay home!" shtick. You're literally hardcore Bernie Sanders supporters, albeit with the ideological preferences flipped. You're confusing the actual electorate with your personal and biased viewpoints, as well as individual and subjective experiences (the same broad behavior is why Inhofe thinks throwing a snowball on the Senate floor disproves climate change). I can't wait to hear the whole "we need to nominate a
real conservative" line if/after Trump loses the general, from the same people who said we needed a
real conservative like Trump in the first place.
Republican electability is really simple - in fact, it's the simplest of all variables to calculate. Do they stand a chance at making inward roads with genuine moderate and independent voters? If so, then yes, they are electable. If it's a matter of sheer abnormally-high turnout, then the Republicans lose every time. Obviously Democrats are not going to vote for any Republican, so that's a non-factor.
Republican turnout in a given election cycle is a constant; likely Republican voters always show up and they always vote for their party. You can pretty much bank on a given number of votes in a national race from Republicans these days (60,000,000) - just look at the past three elections. There's been only two million votes' worth of variance (compared to ten million for Democrats). In part, that's because of the demographics and alienation of your party; there is now one voter dying off for every new voter you obtain. This isn't a structural problem the Democrats currently have. Despite conservative posturing, virtually none sit at home and boycott the election (or lodge protest votes, for that matter) because "real conservatives" didn't get the nod. That's something Democrats and leftists
actually do in much greater numbers, but it's still around the margins.
If a Republican candidate can't win the primary they can't win the general.
Nope nope nope
Poll
