[BJClinton]

who balanced every state budget and pinched pennies like mad

Oh come one, Dean was Gov. during the booming 90s. It was easy to have a balanced budget then. How would he do now?

Sorry, my cat hit 'post' for me. To continue, now that the boom has gone bust, as business cycles do, it's time to cut back, as we've done here in Texas. Now, the liberals here are bitchin' and moanin' and doing what liberals do: claims of racism, starving 'chilrun' etc. But the REAL conservatives here in the Lone Star state have done the right thing and cut the budget.

That's what Dubya and the others I voted for should have done at the Fed level. They didn't have to balance the budget, just cut spending some. Instead they barf out the Farm bill and the Prescription Drug BS (which isn't all bad, I know). Anyway, I don't think Dean would do anything different that Bush, in fact I believe he would spend more. But Bush has not been a fiscal conservative, which IS the most important quality of a true conservative.

[Southack]

"But Bush has not been a fiscal conservative, which IS the most important quality of a true conservative."

Then you didn't understand my point.

Dean is fiscally conservative, yet Dean would never sign an abortion ban (Dean was a Planned Parenthood doctor, in fact). In contrast, Bush has already signed an abortion ban into law, a very conservative thing to do.

In other words, being frugal isn't the same thing as being conservative. That's why your litmus test fails. Your test says to vote for the most frugal spender.

That would get you pro-abortion Dean, a far cry from a true Conservative.

On the other hand, my abortion ban test would tell you to vote for Bush. That would get you someone who has already banned one form of abortion, killed the Kyoto Global Warming nonsense, withdrawn from the U.S. - CCCP ABM treaty restraints (so that we can defend our nation), cut taxes, cut regulations, and put conservative judges onto the federal roster.

Ergo, my litmus test is better than your litmus test (cue sounds of children screeching "nanny nanny boo boo" in the background).

And the reason for mentioning that one test is better than another is to help us avoid looking at the wrong things and/or the wrong candidates. Thus, this is important.