MountainMan
02-07-2012, 12:48 AM
What defines a conservative today? I have been posting on this board now for the better half of the last seven to eight years. My views for the most part have not changed. Those that know my posts know I can argue for the conservative movement with the best of them. However, over the last two years, I've been referred to as a RINO and as a moderate. WTF?????
Being a conservative twenty years ago meant that you believed in the three tenants which were a strong national defense, socially conservative with regards to the human life issue and a lower tax rate to go along with lower spending. However, something changed. Im not sure when it happened or how but some people started claiming to be real, true conservatives in the "purest" sense of the term. This is a problem. Personally, I have never been one for purity tests. Being "conservative" has different meanings to different people around the country. Those of us who grew up in small to medium towns in the west and midwest have a different view of what it means to be conservative than someone from the south or east coast. We all consider ourselves conservative but with slightly different meanings.
Can a purity test cloud someones judgement? Hell yes. All you have to do is look at the race Christine O'Donnell ran for the senate in Delaware. The woman was dumb as a box of rocks and crooked too considering she paid for her personal rent out of campaign donations. Her opponent in the primary was Mike Castle. Was he a republican? Yes he was. Was he conservative? Thats the question that needs answering. Mike Castle was a moderate to liberal when it came to social issues. However, he was strong for national defense and strong when it came to spending and taxes. Unfortunately, we had too many people on our side think that they were doing the movement good by putting up someone who claimed to be a "pure" conservative. We heard phrases like "She will move the ball forward for the movement" and "My conscious will be clear because I know I voted for the true conservative". Well goody for you. Your conscious gave us a leftwing turd who we will never get out of there. Oh, and Mike Castle vowed to lead the fight to repeal Obamacare. At least your conscious is clean.
We also have conservatives here on this board claim to carry the mantle of Ronald Regan. However, one of Regan's favorite beliefs was that someone who agrees with me seventy percent of the time is not my enemy. How many of you actually think Reagan would have endorsed O'Donnell over Steele. Reagan was a pragmatist and knew you could only advance the movement forward by putting in people that could win.
Reagan wouldn't have stood for purity tests and he sure wouldn't have called people RINO's. We stand a good chance of throwing Obama out if we stand together. It is ok to criticize one persons policy stance. It does us no good marginalizing our own candidates. Reagan wouldn't have done it and neither should we.
Leave the purity tests to democrats.
Being a conservative twenty years ago meant that you believed in the three tenants which were a strong national defense, socially conservative with regards to the human life issue and a lower tax rate to go along with lower spending. However, something changed. Im not sure when it happened or how but some people started claiming to be real, true conservatives in the "purest" sense of the term. This is a problem. Personally, I have never been one for purity tests. Being "conservative" has different meanings to different people around the country. Those of us who grew up in small to medium towns in the west and midwest have a different view of what it means to be conservative than someone from the south or east coast. We all consider ourselves conservative but with slightly different meanings.
Can a purity test cloud someones judgement? Hell yes. All you have to do is look at the race Christine O'Donnell ran for the senate in Delaware. The woman was dumb as a box of rocks and crooked too considering she paid for her personal rent out of campaign donations. Her opponent in the primary was Mike Castle. Was he a republican? Yes he was. Was he conservative? Thats the question that needs answering. Mike Castle was a moderate to liberal when it came to social issues. However, he was strong for national defense and strong when it came to spending and taxes. Unfortunately, we had too many people on our side think that they were doing the movement good by putting up someone who claimed to be a "pure" conservative. We heard phrases like "She will move the ball forward for the movement" and "My conscious will be clear because I know I voted for the true conservative". Well goody for you. Your conscious gave us a leftwing turd who we will never get out of there. Oh, and Mike Castle vowed to lead the fight to repeal Obamacare. At least your conscious is clean.
We also have conservatives here on this board claim to carry the mantle of Ronald Regan. However, one of Regan's favorite beliefs was that someone who agrees with me seventy percent of the time is not my enemy. How many of you actually think Reagan would have endorsed O'Donnell over Steele. Reagan was a pragmatist and knew you could only advance the movement forward by putting in people that could win.
Reagan wouldn't have stood for purity tests and he sure wouldn't have called people RINO's. We stand a good chance of throwing Obama out if we stand together. It is ok to criticize one persons policy stance. It does us no good marginalizing our own candidates. Reagan wouldn't have done it and neither should we.
Leave the purity tests to democrats.