The first and most important issue is Life. Must be pro-life. They could score 100% on every other scal, but if they’ve got life wrong, then they are a clandestine Rino or a Rino-in-the-making.
No excuses. No exceptions. Ever.
At this point, that makes Sarah Palin the frontrunner.
Exactly!
For almost 37 years an INNOCENT AMERICAN BABY has been murdered EVERY 24 SECONDS. It is impossible to support this and maintain moral authority.
And it is not just a moral issue. In murdering over 50 MILLION AMERICANS we have created a fiscal crisis that is only going to get worse. These dead Americans would today be paying taxes (including Social Security), hold jobs and buying goods. When a society fails to reproduce at consistent rates or something else happens that kills off a large portion of the population (like what happened to Europe with the Black Death in the mid-14th Century) there are ALWAYS consequences and the more dramatic the "population hiccup" the more dramatic the consequences. Since 1973 over 25% of pregnancies have ended in abortion.
What is “right” on life? What is “right enough”?
What if someone personally opposed abortion, and wanted to ban abortion by law, except for rape and incest?
What is someone personally opposed abortion, but wouldn’t ban it until after the 1st trimester?
What if someone personally opposed abortion, but was OK with contraceptives including the pill?
There are a lot of pro-life politicians who fall into one of those three categories — NONE of which are completely “pro-life”. We have a lot of pro-life politicians we have elected who are fine with rape/incest exceptions — and we’ve supported them here at FR.
Again, the Republican party is not the conservative party. If we eliminate everybody from the party who isn’t pro-life, that leaves us what, 50-60 percent of the population? And a lot of pro-life people are otherwise liberal, and would not be acceptable in the party, but that leaves us a permanent minority.
If we get enough pro-life democrats elected, we can afford to have a few pro-choice republicans. If we get enough pro-gun democrats elected, we can afford to have a few anti-gun republicans.
But I understand your point — I wouldn’t give money to a pro-abortion politician (if there were two running, I’d vote for the republican).