You wrote, "This is where the Repubs failed us -- they did not fight, and they were not conservative."
This is the second time today I've read 'Republican' and 'conservative' as an important distinction while engaging in dialog with another FReeper, and I find the distinction troubling.
I'm a Republican, and believe in party loyalty because the Republican Party is the currently the only means by which conservative thought may be integrated into national policy. Unless and until there is a Whig-like party split over a matter of overriding principle, I'll hold my nose and vote for a Republican candidate even if I don't agree with his or her stance on every issue.
Excellent post. I really want to know what the difference is between a "Conservative" and a "Republican." My guess is that there will be as many definitions of that difference as there are those who who would offer to post them.
So, those "conservatives" who withold their votes from Republicans who don't meet their idea of a "conservative" are doomed to foment chronic failure and strife because there isn't an individual on earth who could satisfy them all -- they would bicker among themselves, even.
It seems there are an awful lot of people who confuse "principle" with with "pride." You, Rembrandt fan, are NOT one of them, nor I hope am I. Like you, I am willing to "hold my nose and vote Republican." We accept that politics, like life, sometimes means having to make the choice between bad versus worse.