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"Have you been a conservative longer than that, so that you can tell a fifty year conservative what my values are supposed to be?"

I *can* tell you what "conservative" values are. What you consider *your* values are between you and God. There are moral conservatives (you appear to be one), there are fiscal conservatives, and there are constitutional conservatives.

I'm a bit of all three. I want abortion gone (or at least reduced to a state issue where it can then be voted out), I want the budget balanced except for necessary war spending, and I AT LEAST expect a Republican to not back new entitlement programs. Is this too much to ask? Is adherence to the Party Platform too much to ask of a Republican? If so, I think term limits have to be seriously considered for Congress.

I guardedly applaud the President's judicial nominees (we'll have to wait for a while to see just how that works out, but I really don't see an obvious Souter). I applaud the ethical work he did in his first term (abortion, embryonic stem cells). I applaud his at least considering the WOT and actual WAR. Touching the 3rd rail of politics (SS). However, I deplore his massive increase in entitlements and non-defense spending (aided and abetted by "Republicans" in Congress). He should NEVER have signed a bill he knew to be unconstitutional (CFR). I won't even get into this current dust-up.

You see, one can not support some decisions the President has made without being a "hater". This debate within the Party is healthy and necessary if we are going to continue as one.

A moral government is one that limits its intrusion on liberty. The larger government is, the more immoral that government is. I want the government in the original contract (the Constitution). Not one that demands the power to hold my hand from cradle to grave. Alexis De Tocqueville was right, unfortunately, as to what would become of us.

To put it another way: "that government is best which governs least" or to paraphrase Reagan: "government isn't the solution, it's the problem." I do not blame the President for this expansion of government under his Administration. I blame EVERY Republican officeholder. I hate to say it, but this current crop were better in opposition. I'd rather them not end up in that position again, but if they do it won't be my - a registered Republican - fault. I supported them. I voted for them. I donated to them. I've lobbied them. What have I gotten for my efforts?

Reading through this thread... do you accept the proposition that it is possible to be a conservative and NOT support every policy and action of a Republican - any Republican? Faction without issue is something the Founders feared (actually, faction in general). Is that what we have now?