I agree with you that many of the original FReepers were probably more GOP loyalists than true conservatives (meaning to hold to all three legs of conservatism - SOCONism, NATDEFism, and Fiscalism).
***I didn’t see that at all. They were invariably true conservatives. It was a small website. The republican loyalists didn’t start showing up until the 2000 election.
“***I didn’t see that at all. They were invariably true conservatives. It was a small website. The republican loyalists didn’t start showing up until the 2000 election.”
Then I will go with what you say. I didn’t start lurking at FR until after the 2000 election. However, I am conservative first, Republican next. Also, although I am primarily a SOCON and National Defense conservative, I am fiscally conservative because it is the “right” thing to do. You don’t spend more money than you make...whether you are an individual or a government. And you don’t keep “taxing and spending” as the old mantra went!
Anyway, my point is that I hold to all three legs. I keep encountering folks here that are really only “fiscal” conservatives....and I question if they even have that right.