Is 2012 Slipping Away From the GOP? - John Hinderaker

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/02/is-2012-slipping-away-from-the-gop.php

From the mouth of the conservative movement magazine:

Nevertheless, if you are a Republican, the vibes are very bad. The presidential primary season has turned into a disaster, in my view. Mitt Romney has shown a discouraging inability to appeal to the party’s base, while the race has damaged both Romney and the party. Newt Gingrich, in particular, sacrificed the party to his own ego by launching left-wing attacks against Romney. Gingrich is gone as a Republican contender, but we will see more of him in the fall, in Obama ads. What a swan song for someone who once led the conservative movement!

In my opinion this arc began when Sarah Palin became the unofficial leader of the party. The emphasis on faith over reason, militant incuriosity, and likeability over competence shot the reliance on those factors under George W. Bush into the stratosphere. While she did not lead the party, she led it by the nose to where they are now. Willingly. That is why they have what they have now: a bunch of clowns and Romney. And Hinderakeer is as much to blame as anyone for Sarah's rise and their own fall.