Certain principles and core values are what keeps me a registered Republican despite what I've seen happen to this country over the past 18 years or so (10 of which has been under Republican leadership). I still believe to the death in the Constitution (and the Bill of Rights therein), state's rights, abolishing gun control, abortion reform, the protection of marriage, closed borders, strong but smart national DEFENSE, property rights, personal soverignty, civil liberty, going above and beyond for our military, and most of all small government. And when a candidate, even if he is more likely to win, violates more of those principles than he enforces, I won't vote for him or her. Period. I voted for Bush II twice, and got burned for it because I voted with the party and not principles (even though he seemed like a good candidate in 2000). But I voted for Rick Santorum in 2006, even though he had basically no shot at winning. And I still feel good about that vote because Santorum was a great Senator and a true conservative. Point is, I refuse to vote for Rudy based on one week of PR in New York 6 years ago or because he has a better chance to beat Hitlery. I wouldn't be against adding him as a VP as long as we had a good candidate to lead the ticket.
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