In an article generating a whole lot of commotion in the blogosphere, Christian conservative Chuck Baldwin writes: "the Religious Right has obviously and patently become little more than a propaganda machine for the Republican Party in general and for President G.W. Bush in particular. This is in spite of the fact that both Bush and the Republican Party in Washington, D.C., have routinely ignored and even trampled the very principles which the Religious Right claims to represent."

Baldwin cites Bush domestic security measures as the conservative principles "trampled" by the president. While disagreeing on some of Baldwin's particulars, I'm in agreement with his general idea that many on the Right conflate conservatism with whatever policy the president is advocating at the moment. President Bush's pursuit of nation-building, his backdoor attempt at open borders, the dramatic growth of the federal government on his watch, the accompanying deficits and debt that have consequently ballooned, and his signing into law McCain-Feingold--a bill he once labeled unconstitutional--are an affront to conservative principles but not, apparently, to many self-described conservatives.

"Unfortunately," Baldwin concludes, "when the seed of Bush's unconstitutional policies come to fruition, it will produce large scale fallout economically, socially, and politically. And sadder still will be that, instead of blaming Bush's infidelity to constitutional government and conservative principles, people will blame Christianity and conservatism itself. The result of this miscalculation will doubtless be a massive tide of support for more and greater unconstitutional government, but only under a different name." I'm afraid Mr. Baldwin is correct on this point.

Chuck missed the boat on this one. Conservatism has had a bad name for a while now. I almost always call myself a paleoconservative. Even though it is a term that doesn't fit me completely well, it leaves a more correct impression in other people's minds than the term conservative does.

If you agree with the premise of the “Bad Name” posting. Why would one have voted for Bush? Could it be that most conservatives would never vote for a democrat? Intellectual Morons????

Now that the election is over, I can agree that Bush has been very bad for conservatism on a number of fronts.

The best I can do is hope that the poor policies of the first term were pragmatic moves to secure a second term. Now that he is relieved of that concern, perhaps he will govern to the right. What happens with the court, taxes, social security, and litigation will be of supreme interest.

If in four years, Thomas is the Chief Justice, there are two more Scalia's on the Court, the federal judiciary is packed with conservatives, taxes are lower, social security is partially privatized, and the trial lawyers have been restrained, I will let first terms be first terms and embrace George as a conservative.

GW is a perfect example of the new candidate. He does not lean too far either way and doesn’t have the true convictions of his party at large. Look for the Dems to follow and try to steal the patent on this formula, as it is the only way for them to get a candidate for a major office elected.

They had it down with Clinton but then drifted way too far Left.

What we are seeing here is the birth and proliferation of political mediocrity.

These guys are all good examples of politicians that will stay in the middle and pander to certain groups to get elected.

It twill be RINO or DINO.

One thing is for sure: the way things are going, you better learn to speak Spanish.

To Robert and Brad: yes, the only reasons for a conservative to vote for Bush is (1) that Kerry is even more liberal than GWB, and (2) the hope that perhaps GWB's second term would be much different than his first.

As a conservative dissident from the reign of George II, I just want to say to all the conservatives who have been his cheerleaders: C'mon! The election is over, so now you can speak freely! Admit it: This guy is a disaster.

Sending the country to an unprovoked avoidable war with an unprepared military is not a question of conservative or liberal.
Doing a poor job of defending the homeland such as ignoring the UBL warnings as historical documents, failing to secure the borders etc. is not a matter of conservative/liberal. Our troops are fighting to free Iraq. They should be here protecting us. You guys are worried about gay marriage, abortion, Clarence Thomas and packing the federal courts. So America gets 4 more years of an incompetent that even conservatives (the people who elected him) are unhappy with.
Speak freely the election is over.

Rob: Yeah. We are worried about gay marriage, abortion, feakish biotech experiements on human prenatal babies, the courts and federalism, among other things. I hate Iraq, but it's not the end of the world, and gravity-wise it pales in comparison to the US's promiscuous use of abortion.

Liberals can't handle the fact that conservatives are serious about social issues. I was talking to a friend the other day who was _shocked_ that I though getting a Scalia or Thomas (rather than an O'Connor) in Rhenquist's seat would be worth putting up with George Bush. Liberals I guess just think we're joshing when we talk culture war; it doesn't make sense to them.

I worked near the WTC. I was in Manhattan on 911.All those ancillary social issues won’t matter if we are not safe.
People are different. They don’t all believe the same things. Forcing your views down their throat won’t make America a better place. You don’t like abortion, neither do I. Don’t have one. Abortion is not going away.
Gays deserve equal rights. They will eventually get them whatever you or I do, pro or con.
Wake up Conservatives. The world isn’t going back to the old days – Culture war or not.

"People are different. They don’t all believe the same things. Forcing your views down their throat won’t make America a better place. You don’t like abortion, neither do I. Don’t have one. Abortion is not going away."

Reductio: You don't like rape, don't rape anyone. Don't however tell other people not to rape. Forcing you're views down the rapists throat won't make America a better place. Rape is not going away.

Robert, it is your superficial and self-righteous immoralism that makes cultural conservatives cringe at voting for anyone whose bumper sticker would appear on your car. We're serious about this, and you're very foolish for thinking we should just "get over" our fetishistic protection of the prenatal human life, or the other cultural issues.

Perhaps at the federal level only money-issues and security-issues should determine our votes; that's what you want, right? Well the quickest way to make that happen is to overturn Roe v Wade, but because abortion _opponents_ aren't going away.