I'm going to reconsider supporting Ron Paul.
He's the most conservative when it comes to spending.
His only liberal position is the military, and Congress would never let him gut the military. The only way he could do it is with the line item veto, and the president does not have that power.
The curious thing is if Ron Paul was 1o years younger and didn't have his near total pacificist withdraw from the world stance on the military, I think he could run away with the nomination now.
He is the only true core economic conservative, he's really what economic conservatives WANT, and it was his foreign/military policy, some crazy old newletters and his age that stopped him.
It also seems apparent candidates such as Perry who actually had a conservative economic history (for the most part) should have bite the bullet for some awful early results and stayed in it. So should have Herman Cain. Both forgot how short-term memory voters have for most blunders and gafts, and only care about private infidelities for a short time too.
Though they deny it, I think increasing numbers of Republicans are quietly thinking "why do we just have these clinkers?! Why not someone like Christy, Ryan, Rubio etc to even consider?"
It is easy to forget that other than Paul, the 3 running are not in office because they LOST their next election after being in office only 1 term by BIG margins (Santorum & Romney) or thrown out of office by his own party (Gingrich). They are LOSERS by their own history.
I would think this would really drive Republicans nuts, given how many popular beat-the-odds Winners the Republican party really does have. The Republican primary has narrowed down to a contest between 3 losers - who remain only by having nor reservations on how much they will contradict everything they ever said and did to now say and promise ANYTHING to the religious rightwing. Basically, they were the 3 best liars.
The reason so many of the economic conservatives stayed out is the recognized the long odds of defeating Obama COMBINED with having to go so extremely ultra radical religious rightwing they'd have to put their entire political future into this one hard election, and so crippled by running to the radical religious right they then couldn't win anyway.
It's like when ultra liberals take control of the Democratic party, producing candidates like McGovern and Humphrey, and then their candidate is obliterated in November. Historically, Republican leadership tried to hold the religious rightwing so that it didn't do more than represent their own numbers (a minority of Republicans)> BUT for how the Republican primary is working on pluralities - plus starting with the Iowa Caucus that is over 50% evangelicals dominating the first 5 months of politics - the largest minority of Republicans wins the nomination.
Republicans need to really rewrite their primary process. Democrats address the problem of the radical left by increasing the number of "super delegates," or party officials. NOT enough to make a majority, but enough to offset a fringe minority that mobilizes to take over the party.
The reason Romney hedged for a long time to not go to the far right is he hoped to win in November, not just the primary. The most economic "conservative" of the 3 (excluding Paul) really is Gingrich, but he is such a wild card, such an egotist, and both his personal egotistical past follows him, he is the one that now polls lowest against Obama.
I think probably the strongest is Romney because he's rich, has a Harvard degree (meaning the insiders and entire media won't totally to destroy him) and he could a tiny bit back up from of the radical religious right extremes. The only hope of Republicans, (in my opinion), is a LOW KEY campaign that does not bring blue collar and minorities in mass back to the polls for Obama, hoping that people who do show up vote for or against Obama - with the Republican just being the candidate that isn't Obama. I don't think the Republicans can win, the only question was could they hope Obama loses and thus the Republican wins by default.
The radical religious rightwing stuff is pretty much killing that strategy.
