All of your posts accurately reflect my feelings and political experience exactly. While like you all I am a fiscal conservative, I am probably also a social moderate. In my mind that means that the federal government can and should exert its power in improving many of the basic needs and rights of U.S. citizens. Our national security and maintaining sound economic and social relationships with the world of nations are fundamental responsibilities of governance, as is an excellent education for our children and affordable healthcare for all, in my opinion. Of course, using every fiscal and financial tool available to assure that our economy remains competitive and our citizens employed are also pretty fundamental.

Like everyone who has posted to this thread so far, political party designation means little to me. Over the last couple of decades those elected to federal positions have performed far differently from their campaign promises, what their political parties are supposed to represent, and the political objectives I espouse. I'll pay a lot less attention to which party future candidates choose to belong to than their campaign promises and how they have fulfilled their previous campaign promises.

Other than sound character, I will have no specific standards which I feel would disqualify a candidate I might vote for--no litmus tests as it were. Certainly, I'll apply no standards that are based on particular religious beliefs. Our country was founded to escape any such influences. I think I'm realistic in knowing that no candidate will ever perform in a way that satisfies me 100% of the time. Was it Ronald Reagan who said, "A member of Congress who supports me 80% of the time is my friend"? If I can find a candidate that I can be sure will govern in a way that I agree with 80% of the time, I'd be ecstatic!

If there are lots more people out there who believe in the same way as those who have posted to this thread, there is hope. As I've said many times before, the ship of state changes direction very slowly, but in time it will turn to meet the desires of most Americans.