I doubted the strategic wisdom of conservatives sitting out this election to "teach Republicans a lesson"; several bloggers have responded.

There are still doubters and skeptics, though. What's really stunning is this absolute certainty of angry conservatives that A) Republicans will learn the right lessons from the defeat, and not, say, respond in a panic by embracing their inner RINO and flailing around for MSM approval

And when they find that they keep  losing when they do that, yes - they will  learn their lesson.  Either that, or they'll not taste public office again.

and B) that the Republicans can easily win back Congress in 2008, just by stiffening their spines and pledging to return to their conservative roots.

What you fail to remember, Jim-bo, is that when conservatives run as conservatives, they win.  And when they govern as conservatives, they stay in office.

But when they thumb their noses at their constituents...they lose.  What's really  stunning is how that lesson seems to be lost on an elitist Republisnot like you.

I have my doubts on both counts. For starters, why would Republicans get the message that "we need to be more conservative" in a year that conservatives were knocked out?

Oh, I dunno.  Maybe it's 'cause...let's see, now...they're not actually conservatives at all?!?!?!?!

Who are the Republican lawmakers most angering the conservative base? Well, let's say Sens. Trent "I'm tired of hearing about Porkbusters" Lott, Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens, John McCain for cosponsoring Kennedy's immigration bill and campaign finance reform, Arlen Specter for being a pain in the tushie over judges, Chuck Hagel for being the New York Times' favorite Republican senator to criticize Bush, and other minimally-conservative Republicans like Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. Well, they're not going to lose in 2006. Most of ‘em aren't even up for reelection this year.

Perhaps not.  But most of them are, or have been, in positions of power & influence.  And they were put there by other Republican senators who were warned by their constituents  not to put them there.

Then there's this bullshit illegal alien-amnesty bill they've come up with - and it didn't get passed without a majority of RINO senators voting for it, I'll promise you that.  Now, this bill comes despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose its tenets.

And you wonder why  the base is pissed off?

Look at the Republicans most in jeopardy in 2006. (I'm using National Journal's most recent rankings.)

Blah blah blah.  Doesn't matter a damned bit, Geraghty, if the result is the same.  And for the last six years or more, it hasn't mattered a damned bit.

Down the line of the National Journal list, you see fairly conservative to very conservative GOP lawmakers at risk this year: Shaw of Florida, 82 lifetime, 71 last year. Heather Wilson of New Mexico 82 lifetime, 75 last year. Mike Sodrel of Indiana, 92, only served one year so far. Davis, Kentucky 88, another first-year guy. Hostettler of Indiana, 90 lifetime, 100 in 2005. Pryce of Ohio, 79 lifetime, 83 in 2005. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, (Mr. Able Danger!) 70 lifetime, 65 in 2005. Charles Taylor of North Carolina, 92 both lifetime and 2005.

I wouldn't worry about them, Jimmy-boy.  All they have to do is run on the House bill, and an intelligent electorate will retain them.  But God have mercy on them if they cave between now & November on the illegal immigration issue - because We The People™ won't.

Trent "I'm tired of hearing about Porkbusters" Lott, Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens, John McCain, Arlen Specter, Chuck Hagel, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

Nice job, guys. Your effort to re-conservativize the Republican Party in Washington by staying home this year will have the effect of massacring the actual conservatives and empowering the moderates who you disdain. Perhaps we can call this counterproductive maneuver "RINO-plasty."

Or perhaps we can call it what I did up top:  Taking your favorite toy away from you.  To see you throw this temper tantrum, the description certainly is appropriate.

But that's okay, the staying-at-home-conservatives insist. The GOP will win back the House and Senate in 2008, establishing a true conservative majority.

Maybe. But as I mentioned, what kind of lengths do you think the Democrats will go to in order to keep power once they've got it? Does the "Fairness Doctrine" ring a bell? You think Pelosi and Reid wouldn't try that tactic to hinder conservative talk radio? How about McCain-Feingold 2.0, with a particular focus on controlling "unregulated speech" on the Internet and blogs?

Think the MSM was cheerleading for Democrats in 2004? How much more fair and balanced do you think they'll be when their task is to defend Democratic House and Senate majorities AND elect President Hillary Rodham Clinton? My guess is, they'll make the CBS memo story look accurate and evenhanded by comparison.

Think the GOP can prevail in close races once they're out of power? Ask the members of the military who had their ballots in Florida blocked. Ask Doug Forrester how well his anti-Torricelli campaign worked when he suddenly faced Frank Lautenberg at the last minute. Ask Dino Rossi. Ask Democrat Tim Johnson if he's glad the last county in South Dakota to report its results just happened to have enough of a Democratic margin to put him over the top in 2002.

Uh-huh.  Perhaps you and your butt-buddy RINOs in the Senate should have thought of that before  you went against our wishes?

Once the Democrats regain control of Congress, a GOP takeover is going to be exponentially harder than it was in 1994. You're never going to catch the Democrats as flatfooted again.

You drastically "misunderestimate" us, to quote your favorite RINO, Geraghty.  In the first place, the Republican Party may be stupid now,  but they'll learn quickly.  They won't chant the Demoscummic mantra "well, we just didn't do a good job of getting our message out".  Not if they want to get the majority back, that is.

Trust me - once the GOP's nose is bloodied, they'll pay a lot  more attention to the base.

They'd better.  We're still the masters, and they're still the servants.

Secondly, you also underestimate the American People.  Particularly the ones who honor Article II of the Bill of Rights. (Think about that for a while.  It'll come to you.)

Why are so many conservatives hell-bent on cutting off their nose to spite their face? Are they really willing to throw away a decade's worth of work and go back to square one?

Why do so many elitist Republisnots consider a congressional majority to be their birthright?  Do you people think that we can be played for the fools for which you've taken us for these last 12 years?

Has it never occured to you that to us, we've never moved off  Square One™???  Hello?  McFly???

We usually like looking at the Daily Kos crowd insisting for an immediate pullout of the troops or impeachment hearings right this second and we laugh at them for their ludicrously unrealistic expectations.

Yeah, well - you usually don't sound  like the whiny little fucknozzles at the Daily Kossack, either.  But damned if you haven't managed to pull it off.

But apparently the Kos are not the only ones with an all-or-nothing mentality.

We've gotten John Roberts and Sam Alito on the Supreme Court, and even then we weren't sure about Roberts, and then  we only got Alito after your boy Wussya tried to push Harriet Miers on us.  And now this bullshit about "guest worker programs".

How many times does that president of yours plan on giving the American people a thumb to their collective eye?

Sometimes in life you have to use the West Coast offense, nickel and diming your way down the field instead of going for the long bomb. If I want a more conservative government, I get it by electing the more conservative of the two choices, even if he isn't as conservative as I would like. I do not get it by sitting on the sidelines and pouting, and letting the less conservative guy take the reigns of power.

Uh, Jimmy-boy?  The last  West Coast Offense to play in the Super Bowl...um, how shall I put this?...got its ass royally whipped by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Might wanna rethink your analogy there, bro.

For this I get labeled a "bamboobzled [sic] boob" by the likes of Bill Quick. Yeah, I'm the unreasonable one.

Yeah, well - Bill Quick was going easy on you.

This  conservative labels you a Deluded Dumbfuck™.