I happen to be very close friends with a Minnesota Representative who belongs to the Conservative wing. I speak with him every week and he is well aware of the sentiments coming from the Conservative Base.
Oddly enough, the radical fringe rantings coming from this thread do not fully represent the base overall. Most of them are rather respectful, level headed, logical thinkers who resemble Newt Gingrich.
I have asked him countless times, as to why Congress votes the way they do. His reply is always;
[ “How long do you think any of us would be able to stay in office, if we were to always cater to the extreme fringe who represents less than 10% of the population?”]
Change the thinking of the population first, before you can have the perfect conservative world you dream of.
Doesn't anybody know as much as they think they do. I actually don't disagree with 90% of the rest of your post. I've heard similar from some offices and different talk from others I know. Some are good friends. Some are acquaintances that I see a few times a year on business.
However, here's my response to your friend in Minnesota. It's the same thing I asked some folks I know. My biggest gripe is budgetary.
[ “How long do you think any of us would be able to stay in office, if we were to always cater to the extreme fringe who represents less than 10% of the population?”]
What is extreme fringe about balancing the budget and not raising taxes? If the Ryan plan that is such a favorite among the center-right is considered very conservative today and likely unattainable, how did the fiscal culture move so far to the left from even the Clinton years when there was an almost balanced budget?
Oddly enough, the radical fringe rantings coming from this thread do not fully represent the base overall.
The problem I see here on this site and others is that people build up their people often to unreachable expectations until there's one bad decision, and then mercilessly destroy that person for not living up to them. In the alternative, they destroy everyone but that their person trying to clear the field for their candidate, who may not even be running.
Change the thinking of the population first, before you can have the perfect conservative world you dream of.
That's obvious, but I think there's been a real shift in the thinking of the population that has been missed, at least when it comes to fiscal issues.
Heh...I find this statement remarkable considering how it comes from an individual who mercilessly trashed Sarah Palin over the past three years, jumped on the Perry bandwagon last September, bragged about how big oil money would push Perry straight into the White House, jumped off the Perry bandwagon and onto Newt's, and is now openly criticizing "radical fringe" FR Conservatives for not embracing Romney.
What a GOP-E tool you are...