We have several "conservatives" freepers who actually insist Bob Barr and Jesse Helms are too liberal for them, but a guy like Sen. Zell Miller (conservative rating = 60% = Olympia Snowe) is a great principled conservative who they would vote for in a heartbeat.
I guess according to their standard, Democrats are ALLOWED to be unpredictable, flip-flopping "moderates", but EVERY Republican has to vote EXACTLY like Ron Paul or he's not worthy of their (or anyone else's) support. In order words, Republicans must think EXACTLY LIKE THEM to qualify for office. This from the types who lecture everyone about "liberty" and "freedom". Yeah, a congress where all 435 members are Ron Paul CLONES because otherwise they'd be voted out. Sounds free to me.
But given the way they hold Democrats in HIGHER esteem and to much EASIER standards, it's pretty obvious as to which party these guys are members of. Many of them have even admitted it.
As for holding candidates, regardless of party, to the SAME standard of smaller government, that's fine with me if you want to. By that standard, our nominee for the U.S. Senate (and the previous two for that matter) here in "liberal" Illinois makes him far better than the Liddy Doles, John Warners, and Thad Cochrane's running for office in states with these "hoiler-than-thou" types who always scream how great their state is. His website is down because it's undergoing a facelift but I have a copy of his platform right here. See for yourself:
Jim Durkin platform
*Believe in the 2nd amendment--Respects the constiutional right of gun owners to protect themselves and their families and to enjoy recreational activities.
*Secure our national borders through strong immigration controls and provide the INS with the tools it needs to enforce our immigration laws.
*Act to immediately drastically reduce the marginal tax rates across the board as well as the capital gains tax to spur spending and investment.
*Repeal the personal alternative minimum tax that affects a growing number of middle class families with deductions like children and dependents.
*Opposes all income tax increases
*Facilitate full exploration in ANWR and other domestic sources to break our reliance on OPEC and foreign sourced oil.
*Provide real school choice through local competition with private schools so all children have access to the best quality education available.
*Reduce unnecessary federal red tape to allow parents and teachers to do their jobs with accountable local control.
*Implement a national missile defense system to protect our country against attacks from rogue nations
*Overturn unconstitutional "death penalty moritorum" proposals and enforse capital punishment laws as the only appropriate punishment for henious crimes and people like Timothy McVeigh.
*Strengthen our military and rebuild our intelligence capabilities.
*End all public funding of abortion
*Will vote for an amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade and return power to the states
*Will filibuster the Ryan-Daley O'Hare expansion backroom "deal" for its violation of states rights [right of the Illinois legislature to decide local airport issues]
*Opposed airline bailout bill
*Will fight to cut pork and give government back to the people