Oh, they have. They have! GOP is taking notice that it's better to follow the principles of conservatism than to try and seek the "middle ground" which has failed miserably. The Owens vs Hoffman race is a prime example of how the GOP suddenly realize how wrong they were to support Scozzafava in the first place. Everybody knew she's a RINO with strong liberal ideologies was simply wrong for the party. It was voters with strong conservative beliefs who came out and voted for a Republican governor in VA and NJ, and picked Brown (R) for the Senate seat. Now, the word "conservative" doesn't mean "Republican." One can be a conservative Republican or even a conservative Democrat. They were against the idea of nationalized health care, big spending, lack of accountability, lack of transparency, doesn't like to see ever so expanding government, don't like to see deficit rising and so on.
Conservatism....you'll love it.