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I certainly acknowledge that the Republican failure to limit government is a problem. But I think most Republicans in office do WANT to limit government. If there had been a larger majority in the Senate and a more secure majority in the House, it might have happened. Much of the problem stemmed from two things: Fear of losing our majority (cuts ARE unpopular) and inability to overcome filibusters in the Senate. In politics, you have to play on a team, and you have to be patient. Also, it is extremely "unintelligent" to allow the worse party to win just because the less-bad party isn't very good. It's only justified if the less-bad party is fairly certain to shape up after it loses. And that doesn't necessarily happen.

Nice post. You are right that you should not expect 100% from any candidate as getting elected is about building coalitions and each voter trading off what they find best for them. I am a small "L" libertarian. In spite of all the big government of George Bush, I voted for him as the lessor of two evils. I am very disappointed in the growth of the federal government, but I hold on to the tax cuts, albeit temporary, and that George Bush is fighting the Terror War. I could criticize the "how" the War is being fought but I know John Kerry would have been a disaster for this country. In addition to the libertarians leaving the GOP, I think a big hit was people who were just sick of the Iraq War.