Yuval – Just for the record and for what it’s worth, I have indeed heard more than one (but probably less than 4) prominent conservatives say that they would rather lose with Romney than win with Giuliani. That is not exactly the same thing Brooks is saying. More important, I do not think it’s about a desire to “control” the party, as Brooks says, but to keep the party a socially conservative and, in particular, pro-life. That is a very different motive.

And I see nothing wrong with such a motive, per se. For example, I’m not saying I’d rather lose with X,Y, or Z than win with Huckabee. But I don’t reject the proposition outright that I might come around to that way of thinking, if I were convinced that his governing philosophy is as bad as I sometimes fear it is.