Let’s face it people – The Republican presidential candidates are not conservatives.  Apparently somewhere along the line Republicans changed the definition of Conservative without letting the rest of us in on it.  Some of the candidates could not even be considered  moderate and at least one is a big government Progressive.  Where are the Constitutional Conservatives when you need them?

The good ole boy Republican establishment has ordained Romney,  but the “peons”  don’t want him.  He brings about as much excitement to the race as a trip to the dentist.  The truth is he is too far left to be even considered a moderate.   And the best thing I have heard other Republicans say about him is that “he can beat Obama”.

Then there is Newt Gingrich whose ego is barely surpassed by Obama’s. Maybe I should be against him because of his martial indiscretions but I believe that part of his life  is between him, his x-wives and God.   The Republican establishment dislikes him intensely which moves him up on my list.  Whatever his faults,  I do believe that Newt loves this country and hopefully would do everything in his power to turn the country back toward its founding but he is not exactly a Conservative either.

Ron Paul isn’t out to become President.  I think he is running to give Libertarians a greater role in the public arena and to be a  thorn in the side of Republicans.  While  I agree with a lot of what Ron Paul has to say, he kind of drifts off the road occasionally, if you know what I mean.

Then there is the new darling Rick Santorum.  Anyone who can knock Romney off his perch gets an A in my book., but the truth is, he may be a nice guy, but he is no more Conservative than Newt or Romney.  He has backed gun control legislation, and voted with and for  ”big government” programs on numerous occasions.

Santorum prides himself on being a Social Conservative.  And, for those that don’t know, a Social Conservative is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that  the national government or the state should have a greater role in the social and moral affairs of its citizens (big government).  Social Conservatives in Europe call themselves liberal conservative and  support  the modern European welfare state.   Authoritarianism is  opposed to individualism and believe government should be  concentrated to  a small group of ruling politicians.   Sort of sounds like what we have now!

So where does that leave us?   Are we suppose to vote for a Republican, not because he would be a better president, but because he calls himself a Republican?   Is a Republican big-government liberal any better than a Democrat big-government liberal?   That is a question we are all going to have to ask ourselves in November.    At our last meeting someone in our group suggested that we would have to vote “for the lesser of two evils.”    The leader of the “pack” reminded us that the “lesser of two evils, is still evil.”

The Republicans convention is set for August in Tampa, Florida.  And, at this point, no one knows which candidate  is going to come out on top.  My one hope is that none of them do.  I am hoping that at the last minute, they will have to come up with another candidate.    Saran Palin told Fox Business last week that “we could be looking at a brokered convention.”  If it were only true!  Larry Sabato of UVA first brought up the idea of a brokered convention last December.    A staggered Romney could trigger a move to find a fresh face to run without a brokered convention since there is still time to get their name and platform out to the masses.

Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report said that “if you see Romney lose Michigan, I think there is just going to be a cry for another candidate who is not Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum.”   There are a few possible candidates that I feel could bring the Republicans and Independents together.  Off hand I like Colonel Allen West of  Florida,  Paul Ryan, or Mitchell Daniels of Indiana, to name only a few.

The one thing I do know for sure, if one of the current candidates wins the Republican nomination,  I am  going to have to do a lot of soul searching before I cast my vote.   We definitely can’t handle another 4 years of Obama but we might not survive  4 years of another  lackluster, big-government Republican either.   But that is just my personal opinion – that and $5.00 might buy you a cup of coffee.