Conservatism, Reaganism and 1980 they shout!  RINO’s and off with their heads.  And in the case of Mitt Romney, no core convictions, plastic and a flip-flopper.  And that’s the nice stuff.

So where is it that the conservative movement wants to go in context of the race for 2012?  During my daily radio show and through my tea party activism, I have heard many of the concerns and the often visceral reaction to the ascendancy of Mitt Romney to the Republican nomination.  At times, it seems that Mitt Romney was the anti-Christ of the conservative movement.  Somehow his life’s experience, changes in viewpoints along with his private and public life have all been in vain according to the charter of the movement.

As I wrote in my May article, Why Hire Romney, he is also a studied and well prepared candidate who has honed his skills while seeking the highest office in the land.  And it also seems that it is that very preparedness and competence that results in labels which are derogatory at best and destructive at worst.  Recently, I had a caller who discussed the implications of the Herman Cain controversy.  She said that while she was concerned she did not believe the accusations.  In fact, it was this lack of political skill that also made him seem normal, just like everyday people and that Romney was too prepared, too scripted.

I pointed out that Romney is indeed a competent candidate who has developed an excellent campaign and used his charisma and intelligence to differentiate himself from the rest of the crowd.  The question I posited related to heart surgery.  While I appreciate the fact that a new surgeon must build experience, I would rather have a really good surgeon who is prepared, competent and skilled when doing a delicate procedure.  We don’t look for average or “human” when life hangs in the balance.

Mitt Romney has continually suffered the screeds from the purists in the conservative movement and the tea party.  I find it problematic in that most of these pundits are trying to tear him down while flitting between every other candidate in the roster of what seems to be daily dose of crash and burn.  In fact it is in this candidate rotation that I find the conservative paradox.  On one hand, conservatives were looking for “anybody but Romney”.  As I stated in my previous article, this lack of grounding resulted in wishful thinking and lots of emotion without much progress.  And with the current crop of declared candidates, these same conservatives moved from Gingrich to Bachmann to Perry to Cain and now likely back to Perry?  Doesn’t sound much like firm grounding in support of a real conservative to me!

So now we have the article by Erick Erickson of Red State, who I have met and for whom I have a good deal of respect.  However, his missive is anything but fair or appropriate given the stakes for America in 2012.  You may disagree with Romney, but he is hardly Obama and his competence and cool approach to running a national campaign are critical to beating the president in 2012.  It will be difficult enough with incumbency, the MSM and the locked in African-American vote.  Therefore, while I applaud a thorough and complete assessment of the candidate, I also find that only conservatives seem to eat their young!

Thirty-one years ago, the nation was whiter, more educated, and less secular with the traditional family as a focus of the community.  We had more manufacturing and less global competition and the majority of our citizens were paying taxes.  The Cold War was in full swing and we had just experienced Jimmy Carter, the oil shock and the Iranian hostage drama.  America sought solace in a man who was the great communicator and who could not only focus on those core principles of conservatism, but of American exceptionalism.

Today, we have complexity the likes of which we’ve never seen.  In 1980 the US had a budget spend of $590B, experienced a deficit of $74B and had accrued debt of $712B.  We now spend $3.6T, have a deficit of $1.3T and accrued debt of $15T.  And this current state is before the impact of entitlements begins to erode our budget further along with an increasing interest carry on our debt.

So, I would hazard to guess that even a “principled” Ronald Reagan would find today’s America  complex and challenging to the great platitudes and commitment to conservative principles that worked so well over thirty years ago.

America has given up so much liberty for so much government a long time ago.  The apparatchiks who inhabit the various agencies at the federal, state and local level control many of the levers of power and preclude any quick rooting out of their mischief.  To be sure, we need a principled leader who can draw the country together, make the case to the electorate and begin to reign in the size, scope and scale of government.  However, the nation is more polarized than ever and only 17% of the nation believes that Washington governs with the consent of the governed.

In amongst all of these machinations, Romney continues to prosecute a national campaign with only Obama in mind.  He has prepared himself, firmly established his organization and nurtured mainstream Republican and other activist relationships.  He shouldn’t have a cakewalk to the nomination.  But to denigrate his competence and his effort in context of his perceived lack of being conservative enough amplifies the ineptness and clumsiness of others who have entered this race.  And for conservatives who continue to change horses in mid race to get on a perceived winner, I ask, where is your core? 

The rotation we have seen during this year’s contest is remarkable in that these avowed conservatives have been unable to settle on their 2012 Reagan.   It may be a testament to the sorry state of affairs in modern politics or simply that they need to look at the man who has been steadfast, competent, organized and without drama.  And while you may argue with his human foibles, they pale in comparison to those who would contend and especially the current occupant of the White House. And paradoxically, that is reason enough to hire Romney!