Let’s be a little more measured about this. I originally didn’t want O’Donnell as the nominee and generally am someone who supports moderate Republicans in liberal states (at one point I supported Specter, a long time ago, and was a big Giuliani fan). Having said that, I have been frustrated during the Bush years that the “Republican” president and “Republican” Congress did nothing to advance conservatism and limited government. In fact, 2000-2006 were the warm-up for the Dem spending binge that we just had. Based on that, I’m a lot more willing to take risks on more conservative candidates if the choice is a Republican hack who has been in office for years vs. a raw but right on the issues conservative. Its still a balance though and you can’t put up any idiot just because he or she says the right things.
It’s the fiscally promiscuous “conservatives” like Bush that get us in trouble with the electorate and tarnish the brand. If there’s not much daylight between R’s and D’s in terms of spending restraint, then it’s not a big deal for independents to break hard for the D and give us professional spending marxists like Obama. (Unpopular, however righteous, wars don’t help either.)
Chris Christie is a great case study. He is regarded by many around here as a RINO and has a 51% approval rating in deep blue NJ because of how he’s trying to straighten out their finances.
>I have been frustrated during the Bush years that the “Republican” president and “Republican” Congress did nothing to advance conservatism and limited government. In fact, 2000-2006 were the warm-up for the Dem spending binge that we just had.
This is *exactly* what I mean when I claim that the Republicans, AS A PARTY, are worse than the Democrats. The Democrats at least put effort into advancing their stated party-planks while the Republicans are “whitewashed tombs” that make appeals to their constituents about morality, ending abortion’s legality, limited government, fiscal responsibility and so forth; yet when in power they don’t even make the symbolic gesture of proposing such legislation. (And look at the reputation of ones that do propose doing things differently, like Ron Paul, who suggested the use of Letters of Marque & Reprisal instead of the Global War on Terror and the massive military spending; people [republicans] call him a nut and deride people who think he has some quite valid points.)
And *DON’T* bring up Reagan. I’m not even 30 yet; meaning when he was in office I didn’t have *ANY* care about politics. His *actual* advocacy of the conservatism that the Republican-party-plank is based upon seems to me to be something of a “statistical anomaly.”