Gillespie is quoted in the two Union-Leader articles. His quots make it very clear that in his view there is no place for limited-government conservatism in the GOP.
Really? "fiscal responsibility" - "a slower rate of growth" - "Those questions have been decided," is "very clear?" I don't think you read very critically.
at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/08/10/do1002.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/08/10/ixop.html you will find an article by Mark Steyn.
In this article he quotes Sen. Kerry.
"I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared – seared – in me."
and further...
"I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost being killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real."
and further...
"the war that I fought in was a war where we saw America lose its support for the war, where the soldiers came back having had to do what our soldiers are doing today, carry an M-16 in another country, try to tell the difference between friend and foe. I know what it's like to go out at night on patrol",
and further...
"Visions of sugarplums really do dance through your head and you think of stockings and snow and roast chestnuts and fires with birch logs and all that is good and warm and real. It's Christmas Eve."
and still further with a quote from a different source than Kerry...
"Navy Lt John Kerry knew he had no business steering his Mekong River patrol boat across the border into Cambodia, but orders were orders… By Christmas 1968, part of Kerry's patrol extended across the border of South Vietnam into Cambodia."
These are all quotes that tell you something. "Fiscal responsibility" or "a slower rate of growth" don't tell you squat.
Sun Tsu wrote "1 Measurement; 2 Estimation of quantity; 3 Calculation; 4 Balancing of chances; 5 Victory." You should try to work on #2 a bit more.