If you think that George W. Bush is a "Rockefellar Republican," then there is no hope for you outside the John Birch Society.
'Conservatives' feel that if the size of govt isn't controlled, it will be the end of us.
Bush has not controlled the size of govt, quite the opposite.
Ok?
Why do you insist on continuing the personal attacks?
Did I say he was?
No, Rockefellers are socially liberal as well.
But he has chosen to keep company with them, which is almost as bad.
Both Bush and Reagan believed that government could do good things for people and has a role to play.
The realities they face are different however but the comparisons still are valid. Reagan faced a down turning economy due largely to very excessive taxation and a bloated bureaucratic mess, and he dealt with it via compromise with the Democrats who held the power in the House and Senate at one point.
Bush has the House and Senate, yet to get anything done he has to still deal with the Democrats in the Senate and he has to compromise to get 80% of what he wants. Reagan did exactly the same but Bush has actually achieved more..
The problem with the purists, is that they don't believe in compromise, which is really the definition of politics.
I find them to be about as relevant as the liberal left wing who seem to have the same bent. They scream bloody murder and raise hell, but the ship of State continues in the same direction in spite of it.
We will always have extremes in the parties on both sides, and it is a dance to hold them all together. Right now, that dance music has stopped because someone threw a rock through the speakers and the stage curtain has fallen, exposing the mess backstage.
All this will self repair in time. It won't be so pretty, but it is sausage making politics and it never is pretty.
So just do your thing and try to stay focused on the prize. All will play out as it should in the end.