Much of the politics of the right for the last 8+ years has been a continual battle against those who, when faced with a divergence between the model and observed reality, define “principle” as continuing to choose the model.
This is absolutely true. It’s also the fatal flaw of conservatism, which elevates the previous status quo, no matter what it is, to the level of “principle”.
Those of us on the genuine Right reject the model because it is obviously false, no matter how correct it is in theory. There is a very old, and very apt aphorism concerning this:
Let reason be silent when experience gainsays its conclusions.