So conservatives said they could spare a few principles to win the election, and they nominated Nixon. That is exactly the same reason liberals nominated Clinton in 1992 and 1996. It is because they both went in as professional moderates. Political moderation is the practice of someone who openly puts his political goals above principles. Nixon and Clinton were both elected to be crooked.
Someone goes in on a crooked platform.
He tells you he puts pragmatism over principle. When he gets into office, he has no principles. And Americans are shocked. The only incredible sentence above is the last one. Some time ago I was watching a Discovery Channel program about a community that had been terrorized for months by a nut who lived there.