The most conservative of the Republican candidates were Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, and eventually Fred Thompson.
On the Democratic side was, uh, well, er, hmmm . . . Mike Gravel?
Anyway, there were a plethora of conservative Republican candidates available to be espoused and promoted by conservative talk radio and pundits. Yet each was declared "unelectable" before the first ballot was cast! With one exception, Fred Thompson. Rush, Sean, Laura, Bill, Ann, etc., et al, waited with bated breath for the conservative savior, Thompson, to announce his candidacy. By laying all their "money" on one player (look how well that went) they killed the best opportunity to have a conservative carry the Republican banner to victory.
Now they face the possibility of having their nemesis, John McCain, be the Republican candidate. Yet they refuse to acknowlege there is still one conservative in the race, Ron Paul, that could use their endorsements. Even Ann Coulter has stated that if McCain and Clinton are their respective parties candidates, she will not only endorse Hillary Clinton but even campaign for her!
Ron Paul is electable. But these conservative soothsayers refuse to acknowlege his existance, nor will they give any credence to any Libertarian or Constitution Party candidates all of whom are more conservative than the top three on the Republican ticket.
To be honest, I think that Limbaugh, Hannity, Ingraham, O'Reilly, and Coulter have forgotten what it means to be a conservative. Instead it's all about winning the office. They forget they can set the grounds for the debate. They compromised their own principles for election expediency and now they are paying the price. They have become Democrats.
