For Dave: disagreeing not destroying

Sanity, thanks for the thoughts. What I think I'm hearing from you is more about tone than content. For instance, I am very disappointed in the GOP actions on Illegal Aliens. They campaigned on action and then dropped it after the election. The things is, a huge majority of Americans wanted action. This wasn't the abandonment of the base, it was the abandonment of the people.

Yet, I would compromise my ideas to get a nominee would could get elected, as long as they hold my view on core issues, like the war on Islamic Fascism. I think I hear you say the same thing. I could vote for Giuliani.

Yet, Townhall and other places have to be monitored by the politicians (as well as the enemy as you noted), and the discontent with the GOP is measured by the party at places like this. This is where I think tone comes in. I agree we don't have to speak like the posters at Huffington or Kos to make our point. But people like John McCain must be called into account. And our elected officials need to know when we see them renege on promises.

So yours and Sandra Wise' points are taken. Politics is compromise, purists get marginalized, and pragmatists get realized. We should voice our differences, but remember the propagandists are waiting to use our words against us.

"...purists get marginalized, and pragmatists get realized."

That about sums up where I'm coming from. May I borrow that quote?

Of course, use it. Politics is compromise.

I couldn't have said it any better! I always wonder when the issue of "principles" is brought up, it seems that the only principles that matter are the ones held by the writter. What ever happened to respecting the principles held by Bush?

Should he change his strongly felt principles to satisfy his critics?

I loved the way you put it. The tone is the issue.

Also, we work withing our party to change things. (Bashing the party as some do, doesn't get us anywhere, and as you said, the enemy sees our divisions as weakness.)

Then, we vote for our local conservatives and try to elect more conservatives to the Congress and the Senate. Complaining about McCain or Specter is unproductive, because we can't vote in the states that elect them...

As for President, we vote for the nominee of our Party who will certainly do more for our issues than Hillary or Obama.