There's been a preponderance of threads revolving around individual candidates the GOP either has or will field for the 2012 election cycle. Each one has discussed individual candidates pros and cons, with members supporting or detracting from each. I thought perhaps a single consolidated thread in which INGO members could discuss what they were looking for, or what would constitute an "ideal" candidate was in order.
For me an "ideal" candidate would be one that primarily represented classical liberal sensibilities. The ideals of smaller government, less federal involvement in the day to day lives of the citizenry, without moral/religious overtones to their platform. I want religion mixed with my politics the way I want my fish mixed with my morning oatmeal, which is to say not at all. Similarly, I want no part of "compassionate conservatism" which is a euphemism for liberal republicanism. I guess the key ingredients would be a firm basis in Constitutional understanding of the role of the executive branch, with a ready and willing veto pen waiting for entitlement spending, expansion of government in any way, shape or form and no compromise whatsoever on the civil liberties of the American public.
For me an "ideal" candidate would be one that primarily represented classical liberal sensibilities. The ideals of smaller government, less federal involvement in the day to day lives of the citizenry, without moral/religious overtones to their platform. I want religion mixed with my politics the way I want my fish mixed with my morning oatmeal, which is to say not at all. Similarly, I want no part of "compassionate conservatism" which is a euphemism for liberal republicanism. I guess the key ingredients would be a firm basis in Constitutional understanding of the role of the executive branch, with a ready and willing veto pen waiting for entitlement spending, expansion of government in any way, shape or form and no compromise whatsoever on the civil liberties of the American public.
