Reply #16: Actually, the Republicans always nominate someone who at least pretends to be moderate

[BeyondGeography]

Just in the last 20 years or so, we've had both Bushes (the father was routinely reviled by the faithful for his squishy ideology and his son peddled compassionate conservatism), Dole and McCain. Of these, Bush the Younger was more conservative than his main opponent (McCain), but he spent a lot of time in 2000 at least trying to run from his roots. His father and Dole both beat back challenges from Buchanan on the right. McCain beat Romney, but both were seen by the party as moderates. Ask them, and they'll say you're quite wrong about Ford being the last moderate nominee. For all of their so-called purity, electability regulalry trumps ideology. That's more of an argument for Romney than Huntsman, but there's a chance that this is one of the exceptional cycles where they actually do go with the less marketable nut (Perry).