[normy]

People say Perry should drop out and support Newt or Santorum so as to have one alternative to Romney.

I say Perry is that alternative if conservatives want a socially conservative and a fiscally conservative candidate. If Perry drops out I would seriously have to consider Ron Paul because he would be the last fiscally and socially conservative candidate left. His problem is foreign policy but if we don't get our fiscal house in order nothing else matters anyway.

Newt and Santorum are not viable alternatives to Perry for conservatives, they are only half-conservatives.

If I had to choose between Newt and Santorum I would be disgusted because I wouldn't be able to trust the words coming out of Newts mouth (hell Conservatives kicked his ass out in the first place) and Santorum is a Bush type Compassionate conservative and a Roman Catholic.

I will vote Perry, then Paul, then whomever the Republicans nominate to defeat Obama and then I think I'm done voting.

By the way the evangelicals who are rallying around Santorum or Gingrich are sell out bandwagon jumpers who have shown amazing confusion. especially when only a few votes separated Gingrich and Santorum on the first ballot. Sounds like either God is confused or those "leaders" are.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Things aren't so rosy when you look deeper. It looks more like this Texas gathering of "conservatives" was done for a headline and now they're going their own ways.

Santorum endorsers need to issue joint statement and quickly (not so cohesive)

[gogogodzilla]

The problem, which is magnified for this election, is not simply the differences between social and fiscal conservatism. It's far bigger than that.

The problem is a growing fissure between statists and small-governmentalists. And it's found throughout the political spectrum, left and right.

On the right, social conservatives are more apt to support an ever more powerful, centralized government... for only that size government is capable of delivering what they want.

After all, how can you eliminate abortion unless you there is one law over all the land proclaiming it illegal... and how can you enforce it without monitoring every woman and doctor at all times, coupled with a large enough police force to arrest them before it happens?

And that costs money. A lot of money. Money that will come from higher taxes.

And on the left, you see this play out between the communists/socialists/fascists/race baiters/unions/environmentalists and the hippy drippy ‘my body is a temple and I can do what I want with it’ crowd.

To be sure, it's fairly unbalanced between the two parties... with more small-governmentalists in the Republican party than Democrat party, and vice versa in the Democrat party. But there is enough of the opposite in each party to play spoiler. Which is why the Republicans have managed to screw the pooch in 2008... and will probably do it again in 2012.

[Drew68]

I say Perry is that alternative if conservatives want a socially conservative and a fiscally conservative candidate.

Governor Perry is the only true conservative left in the race. That he's wallowing in the single-digits despite a successful executive record and solid conservative credentials tells me a lot more about so-called "conservative" voters than it does about Rick Perry.

Perry remains the best man for the job. He's twice the conservative that Santorum is with none of the baggage that Gingrinch is dragging around. Sadly, short of a miracle comeback of historic proportions, Perry's days in this race are clearly numbered.