[Reagan Man]

The problem is, and I'm certain you have noticed, conservatives are not being elected.

Like I said, for conservatives to get elected, they must appeal to independents and dissatisfied voters of all stripes. You and I may not like that, but that's political reality, in this age of political gridlock. Conservatives make up 20%-25% of the voting electorate, may be. They must work harder and smarter, in order to win victory. Ronald Reagan showed how to get elected, as a conservative-Republican. I suggest conservatives read up on the finer points, of Reagan's overall political strategy.

... whenever RINO's are running, freepers get all excited and jump up and down for joy and flame anyone who dares to voice an opposition opinion to a RINO candidate.</i.

I agree. That seems to happen far too often and needs to stop. I don't want any RINO, to be given preference, over a true conservative.

[chinook]

It might be helpful if the Libertarians took a lesson from the 'progressives' of the early 1900's. At the time, rugged individualism was the order of the day, and socialist ideas were anathema to the average American. So what did they do? They infiltrated the Democrat's ranks. Their ideas, a 'safety net', wage issues, unionization, etc. are now the bedrock of the Democrat platform. They pervade society; it is difficult to find an average, uninformed person who thinks a Federal 'social security' system is a bad thing in and of itself. Over time, the concept of the individual as king of his own domain has been replaced by an increasingly collectivist attitude. Maybe its time the Libertarians started to make use of the apparatus built by the GOP.

[Boxsford]

I suggest conservatives read up on the finer points, of Reagan's overall political strategy.

You are much more optimistic than I. Something libertarianism offers is a philosophy. Conservatism doesn't. Conservatism stands for: status quo. Where does that get us? We continue to fall, granted slower than to the liking of liberals, down that slippery slope. Though I do not embrace all of the libertarian philosophy, they at least have a well known agenda to reduce government and taxes. They actually see the problem where Republicans often are the problem. And, you can no longer equate republicans=conservatives.

I used to think that conservatism meant less government, less taxes, etc. but really all it's been of late is stopping liberalism (and not doing so well at it either), which has it's own philosophy too~ however evil.

When you say conservatives should read up on Reagan's finer points of political strategy, I would agree but they need something larger than this. Conservatives need a philosophy.