Sounds absurd, right? Not so much...
I submit for your consideration the possibility that an Obama victory in the fall is the best outcome for the long term health of the conservative movement.
Let us first acknowledge that the conservative movement is currently in a pretty poor state. For the last 8 years we have had a President that squandered a conservative majority that had us in control of all three branches of government. At best, you could say that the President failed to sufficiently pursuit or achieve a limited-government agenda -- at worst, you could easily argue that the President is not even a conservative (in the sense of believing in the reduction of the Federal government). The Republican Congress was just as guilty as the President by signing off on every program of government expansion in order to "broaden" the base of the Republican party by buying off the electorate with new mandates purely to appeal to certain constituencies that Karl Rove and other advisers believed would strengthen the electoral viability of the party. The Republican Party's abandonment of some of its core principles combined with the rampant corruption and embarrassing escapades of members of Congress and the administration caused the nation to lose faith in the party and our showing in the last election is evidence of that loss of faith.
There is excellent empirical evidence showing that when a Democratic President governs from the far left, the result is a strong conservative backlash that strengths the Republican Party and rejuvenates conservatism especially the limited-government wing of the party.
For example, when Lyndon Johnson over-reached with the "Great Society" the "silent majority" of American turned to Richard Nixon who, although not all that conservative, pledged to re-establish law and order and reign in an over-reaching government. When Jimmy Carter's micro-management of the economy brought economic disaster and national embarrassments in foreign affairs, Americans turned to Ronald Reagan and the Regan revolution was born. Finally, Clinton governed from the far-left for his first two years in office which resulted in the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, the Contract with America, and a conservative renaissance that lasted until 1998 or so.
McCain's biggest problem is that he's just conservative enough to allow conservatism to limp along in its current state for at least another four years. His Presidency would do absolutely nothing to cause a strengthening and a badly needed rejuvenation of the conservative movement. It's not that I believe he would be a bad President, but I believe the party and the movement need to get back in touch with its principles of limited-government. McCain isn't necessarily at odds with most of those principles, but he isn't the same kind of ideological force that Regan was.
Conservatives need to bite the bullet this election and realize that it may be better to lose in the short term in exchange for long term gain. It always hurts to lose, but rest assured that a President as liberal as Barack Obama is sure to unite the party and reinforce limited-government activists in a way that a Republican President (especially McCain) simply can not at this time. Every now and then a good blood letting is needed, and the Republican Party certainly needs to bleed a little before it can start to heal.
This November, have the courage to vote for Barack Obama.