...President George W. Bush all but destroyed whatever conservative influence was left in the GOP. Peggy Noonan is right about that. (See http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120120952618514493.html)
Furthermore, the capitulation and compromise of principle by the Religious Right has also significantly sealed the death warrant of conservatism within the GOP. For the sake of not offending George Bush or losing whatever seat at the table the various leaders of the Religious Right felt they had, their spirit of resistance waned to the point that the very name "Christian Conservative" has lost all meaning, not to mention power.
As a result, Republicans have come to accept Big Government, runaway federal spending, the Welfare State, the Warfare State, the Nanny State, empire-building, gargantuan trade and budget deficits, warrantless eavesdropping, the loss of 4th Amendment rights, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Therefore, how could anyone expect the vast majority of Republican voters to suddenly rediscover a huge commitment of conviction to conservative principles? (Read more...)
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