[sam_paine]

Your question is how can this guy be a solid conservative if he's not a reliable Republican Party guy.

That was not my question at all.

I asked:

Why does this guy flipping around through all the parties make him the "solid conservative" in the race?

I see a pattern where he ran as a Democrat when a Democrat was President and he ran as a Republican when republican was president, and the transitions in 2000 and 2008 are messy.

Obviously all Republicans are not conservatives.

But what is it about a "strong conservative" that makes him run as a Democrat two years after the 1994 conservative revolution?

[so_real]

   Why does this guy flipping around through all the parties make him the "solid conservative" in the race?

Flipping around through all the parties does *not* make him the "solid conservative" in the race; his voting record and stance on the issues make him the "solid conservative" in the race.

   But what is it about a "strong conservative" that makes him run as a Democrat two years after the 1994 conservative revolution?

You'd have consult Goode himself for clues as to the local political environment that drove those decisions. Looking at Romney's record, I could ask why he ran as a Republican in his state when clearly his positions are more inline with the Democrat platform. It was a choice he made, and a successful one at that. I'm from Wisconsin. In our recent recall election, six republicans ran as democrats in the primaries. Does that really have anything to do with how conservative they were or were not? Not in the least.

I discern a man from his words and actions, not the letter that follows his name on the ballot. It's a far more successful measurement of "solid conservative" when looking for one.