Conservative vs "Conservative"

Stephen Gutowski | June 16, 2010
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There are two stories floating around the blogosphere today that are essentially emblematic of the split between actual conservative politicians and politicians who call themselves "conservative". The shinning example of the former comes, perhaps not surprisingly, from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Here he is at a town hall explaining why its so important we fix the fiscal nightmare in New Jersey and the rest of the country (h/t The Right Scoop):

Christie is a Conservative. Not a "Conservative". Not only does he espouse conservative principles of smaller and more responsible government in his speeches  but he actually follows through with his actions. I mean this is a man who took on the most sacred of all unions and beat the pants off of them. How many of even the most supposedly conservative politicians in even the reddest of red states have done that?

Unfortunately a shinning example of "Conservative" politicians appeared in The Politico today (h/t Red State):

Several Senate Republicans told POLITICO that they don’t favor privatizing Social Security, as Angle has supported. Small government conservatives said it doesn’t make sense to eliminate the Energy and Education departments – as she’s called for in the past. And some recoiled at the thought of pulling the United States out of the United Nations, a position Angle has touted.

Wow. So what exactly is conservative about this group of pathetic hacks who felt the need to run to Politico and anonymously trash Sharron Angle? These guys are the perfect example of what a "Conservative" politician is. Undoubtedly they go out in public and rail against how big the government is or how absurd our fiscal policies are or how useless and corrupt massive international bureaucracies are. However, they will then run to some reporter on the hill and attack any practical policy position that is aimed at fixing those problems. Heck, they'll even attack conservative positions, like privatizing social security, championed by people as dubiously conservative as George W Bush. These spineless "Conservative" politicians are everything that's wrong with the Republican party. They espouse conservative ideals in public or on the campaign trail but when it really matters their true beliefs come out. You simply can't trust them. Conversely, Chris Christie is everything that the Republican party should be. He spouses conservative ideals in a bold and concise way but he is also there, standing firm, when it really matters. He says what he means and actually follows through on it. We need more Conservative politicians like Chris Christie and we need to root out the "Conservative" politicians like those quoted in the Politico article.

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