1 It's a shame that a lot of 'em stayed home on Nov. 4, 2008. BTW, don't confuse "conservative" with "Republican".

2 Remember though, the staff at the NYT generally considers itself to be moderate.

3 It is a shame, Diogenes, but not a surprise, as there was no conservative candidate for President running on a major party ticket that time. You had the choice between an ultra-liberal Chicago corrupt Democrat, and a slightly liberal Republican who had shown over the years that he had great disdain for the conservative wing of his party. In football, sometimes when your team is mediocre, you basically toss out everyone and start fresh - it's painful for a couple of years, but if the right people are put in place, you're usually back winning long before you would have otherwise. Unfortunately for the Republicans, they didn't do that this time, so we're pretty much resigned to a much longer period of mediocrity.