Being a conservative right now is frustrating. I've spent weeks upon weeks upon weeks scrolling through news articles, editorials, blogs, think tanks, news papers and every other form of news media drudging up information and facts from every corner of the internet trying to pick out a candidate running for president who I can truly get behind. Several years ago I heard Herman Cain on the radio. He was smart, not overly opinionated, and always willing to admit he was wrong if this were the case and modify his opinion as needed. Turns out he couldn't hang with the big boys. Under pressure to come up with a tax plan he came up with the poorly thought out 9-9-9 plan and proved he simply could not tackle EVERY issue a president had to deal with. His lack of foreign policy knowledge and general lack of knowledge in others topics was simply not countered by his willingness to learn. He didn't know enough. Ron Paul is a GREAT fiscal conservative. His ideas are revolutionary, to say the least when it comes to the budget. For this reason alone he quickly moved to the top of my list. But I quickly found out that I could not, in good conscience, vote for somebody with the foreign policy ideals that Ron Paul held. Like them or not, I could not vote for him simply because we disagree so much on this issue. and the list goes on and on and on. Gingrich, Santorum, Romney all with nuggets of good, buried under deal breaking flaws. You ask for a moderate social conservative and you get something else. You ask for a strong fiscal conservative and you get one who goes so far off on other issues. I believe it is time for me to give up this election cycle. With the exception of a write in, I believe that I am one of many conservatives without a real candidate.
I'm also not impressed with any of them so do what I do. Vote for the person who you feel is most likely to nominate people to the Supreme Court that agree with your beliefs. The Supreme Court guides this country more than the President or Congress and that's always been my biggest factor when deciding who to vote for. I believe that Santorum will nominate people that will offset the two that Obama picked.
As South Park put it, every election is a contest between a dоuche bag and a turd sandwich. Ultimately, we just have to vote for the least bad candidate: in this case, a sack of santorum.
Problem is, over the last 40 (or so) years, the "Right" has moved MUCH further Right. I know, because I (a Black Southerner) used to vote "Republican" myself. Once they latched themselves into religion, then more racism and not anti-women positions and philosophies... Republicans began to 'marginalize' (even alienate) themselves from the majority of American voters. The Tea-Party had a significant amount to do with all we're seeing. They may win in November... but the effects of this 'era' will affect the Republican Party for many many more years to come.
I figure that I will vote for Ron Paul, but I truly hate Santorum. Romney, Newt, and Santorum often support things that are are anti capitalist, but Santorum is by far the worst because he plays the anti Romney while out "Romneying" him. I actually wouldn't mind toning down our military foreign policy and reassert ourselves economically to dictate foreign policy.
Vote for Vermin Supreme [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFXXAuDK1Ao"]Meet Vermin Supreme 2012 Presidential Candidate - YouTube[/ame]
I think you have good concerns about the candidates. Don't vote for them. Vote for who you think is best, even if they don't have a chance. Jon Huntsman, Buddy Roemer, whoever. Not voting is a consent to keep running the government as it is.
As long as they don't muck up too much, we somehow manage to survive. And think of all the fun WE get to have ranting and raving when some buttbreath gets elected! That's important, too. [Your name spelled backwards is metagame. ]
