He authored the legislation to allow IL citizens to concealed carry, is pro-life and pro-marriage.
He is such a RINO!
IMHO, Dillard is a solid social conservative who is politically pragmatic. That is why I prefer Brady, he is more principled. But that does not mean Dillard is not a conservative.
P.S. It is fideist not "fidelist." Cheers! ;-)
You could probably make the same case for John McCain and Lindsey Graham's record on abortion, guns, and "family values", yet freepers scream that those two are evil incarnate. And I can make a good case that those two are infinitely MORE conservative than Dillard is overall. Dillard gets nowhere near 80% conservative ratings. So he's pro-life and pro-gun, but when it comes to the big picture the United Republican Fund shows he takes the conservative side about 40% of the time. Does that him a RINO? YES! Maybe doing the right thing 40% of the time is good in your book but it certainly isn't in mine. Brady rates TWICE as conservative as Dillard.
As others have noted, Dillard stands a good chance of morphing into another Ray LaHood or George Ryan. I might be forced to hold my nose for him over a communist RAT and risk that, but I certainly won't delude myself into thinking I'm getting a "good conservative". You can do so if you wish, based on him taking the "right" side on a handful of important issues, but I'd say you're in the minority here.