Poor Fred, we hardly knew ye!

Well, my newly found neo-Reagan conservative has dropped out. It has been a crazy run for Sen. Thompson. My father-in-law was talking about Brother Fred a year ago, pointing out that he was the only true conservative in the crowd. For almost 9 months, he hemmed and hawed and teased and obfuscated his intentions. In the meantime, the field filled up with Rudy, Mitt, Huckabee, McCain, and the rest. It was September when he finally jumped in. Even then, Sen. Thompson was virtually unheard until three weeks ago. Then he was exploding like the 4th of July! Fred on the left, Fred on the right, Fred down the middle. Of course at this stage of the game as it is played in 2008, it was WAY too little too late. The fact that he finished third in South Carolina is a testimony to the underlying conservative undertow that exists. Reaganites are not comfortable with ANY of this crew.

Which way does the Grand Old Party go? McCain is George H. W. Bush warmed over, moderate almost all the way. Huckabee is a populist as much as he is a Republican, and although populists make some noise, they have never really played well in American politics. Especially with a tax plan that actually hurts the middle and low income working class. Rudy is great fiscally, but he might as well be John Edwards on social and moral issues.

That leaves Mitt. A conservative in almost all areas, the biggest gripe against him is his recent pronouncements against abortion. After all, he was governor of Massachusetts! We know how liberal they are! Yet I see in Mitt Romney a pragmatism that only Ronald Reagan possessed. President Reagan didn't go hard after the abortion laws, but he understood that this was a long term battle that was going to have to be won in the Supreme Court. And even then, the abortion issue, as all morality issues, have to be won in the hearts and minds of the American people. Legislated morality is legalism at its worse, and if our Lord spoke out against anything, it was the legalism in the name of faith. That's a subject for another forum, but suffice it to say that it may be time for Mitt Romney to stand up and carry the banner for the conservatives of this land.