Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., was beaming over a cup of Capitol bean soup in the House of Representatives dining room one recent afternoon. "The election was a mandate for conservative leadership in Washington," declared the new chairman of the House Republican Study Committee. The conservative caucus has grown from 40 members in the late 1990s to about 100 in the new Congress - not including five conservative former House members who are moving to the Senate. Exit polls indicate social conservatives voted in about the same proportion as in 2000. But Pence and others credit them...
