What's next for the conservative, constitutionalist, rational voter after Bachmann?

I was actually surprised by Michele Bachmann's poor showing in Iowa yesterday.  Although I shouldn't have been.  After her Straw Poll win, the fix was in to destroy the anti-establishment and strongest all round conservative in the race.  The establishment and their liberal media pals threw everything but the kitchen sink to undermine Michele.  They used polling and poll reporting to erode confidence in her.  There were the Ed Rollins type plants in her campaign.  The liberal media spin that she was unelectable.  Crooked, money grubbing evangelical leaders did their part as well.  My biggest fear came true as well - stupid voters.  I'm not talking about the folks that voted for Santorum.  If you voted for a Massachusetts's liberal like Romney or an insane nut like Paul, you are a moron and aren't conservative.  That's not sour grapes.  Just a fact.

Speaking of stupid, Sarah Palin's coup de grace on Bachmann last night on Fox reminded me why I detest this right wing poser so much.  I have never been a fan of John McLame's second in command.  Her record as Alaska governor right on down to her support of TARP/bailouts is abysmal. To add insult to injury, Sarah said the republican party should listen to Ron Paul supporters.  Listen to neo confederates, white supremacists, Jew haters, conspiracy loons and neo liberals?  Palin is a vapid tool.  She should stick to what she knows best: chasing empty celebrity and wealth.  One of the reasons I was so enthused about Bachmann was you could tell she was running to help save this republic from the cancer of Obamunism.  It wasn't about her.  That can't be said about Palin.  I can guarantee we won't see Bachmann doing the empty celebrity thing and chasing the almighty dollar at every turn.  We won't see any of her daughters turn out as single mom losers on any reality shows either.  Bachmann has class, morals, ethics and conservative cred far superior to Palin.  Look for Bachmann to go back to congress and continue to stand up to the progressive statists.  Bachmann's future pursuits will be far more meaningful to this country than anything Sarah Palin has done, or will do.

So what's next for me after Bachmann bowed out?

I will vote for Rick Santorum, but I'm not that enthusiastic about him.

Santorum has a lot of good points and merit for conservatives.  I can live with a Santorum presidency.  I need to point out one thing though, Santorum isn't the all round conservative like Michele.  On the pro-life cause, the endorsement of Arlen Specter gives me pause.  One of the big issues facing this nation is the size and scope of government.  The nanny state's overbearing reach into our daily lives needs to be scaled back dramatically.  I don't think Rick Santorum will be the type of president we can count on for this issue.  His record and writings don't bode well.

....on economic and size-of-government issues, Santorum’s record is much weaker. In fact, Eric Erickson of Red State refers to Santorum as a “pro-life statist.”

When Hillary Clinton was justly excoriated by conservatives for her book It Takes A Village, which advocated greater government involvement in our lives, Rick Santorum countered with his book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, which advocated greater government involvement in our lives. Among the many government programs he supported: national service, publicly financed trust funds for children, community-investment incentives, and economic-literacy programs in “every school in America”

He never met an earmark that he didn’t like. In fact, it wasn’t just earmarks for his own state that he favored, which might be forgiven as pure electoral pragmatism, but earmarks for everyone, including the notorious “Bridge to Nowhere.”

The quintessential Washington insider, he worked closely with Tom DeLay to set up the “K Street Project,” linking lobbyists with the GOP leadership.

He voted against NAFTA and has long opposed free trade. He backed higher tariffs on everything from steel to honey. He still supports an industrial policy with the government tilting the playing field toward manufacturing industries and picking winners and losers.

I'm not fully confident he will totally repeal Obamacare.  Nor am I convinced he will stop government meddling in business.  The practice of government picking winners and losers in the business world will probably continue under him if he becomes president.

Keep in mind Santorum is a former senator.  He'll continue to act like a senator.  He'll compromise and make deals.  He'll give in to get a little of what he wants.  Santorum, in interviews recently, said as much to explain his troubling record.  A senator mindset is the last thing we need to repair the damage to this country. 

Now, can you see why there is a lack of enthusiasm for Santorum on my part?  This is why I supported Bachmann.  The only people that will be overjoyed with a Santorum presidency are "compassionate conservatives" (code for progressives) and anyone wanting to relive the good old Bush years again.

So if Santorum is this bad, why am I voting for him?

Because the others are even worse.  I was 150% behind Bachmann because I was almost totally in agreement with her views and record.  First time in my 42 years on this planet that I've run across a candidate that represented folks such as myself completely.  I can't even say that about Reagan.  Something that has really bothered me over the last 20 odd years is how our two major political parties have changed.  The democrat party of my grandparents, the JFK party, has become a radical party of socialists, marxists, progressives and Occupy Wallstreet filth.  The republican party has morphed into what the democrat party used to be, with a good dash of progressivism thrown in to complete the downward slide.  That leaves people like myself out in the cold.  We don't have choices or candidates that really represent us.  So, we vote for the lesser of two evils.  When our lesser of the two evils wins, we get a politician that manages our country's decline and slide towards liberalism at a slower, stealth pace.  We still lose and the radical leftists win in the long term.

I'm just hoping a Santorum presidency slows the downward spiral we are on.  I'm being pragmatic.  I have no illusions he'll be some sort of savior.  He's just the best of what's left in the field.  Speaking of the others,  I will not vote for any of them should they get the nomination.  In my mind, they are just as bad as Obama and share too many of his traits that I despise.  If any of the other candidates are nominated, this conservative is sitting this one out.  There are many other Americans out there that will do the same.  I fear we are going to see the voter apathy play out once again like in 2008.  The fix is in to nominate Mitt Romney.  I'd bet money that Santorum will be the next one the establishment and the liberal, state media eviscerate next.  He served his purpose in getting Bachmann out of the race.  It'll be his turn to get sandbagged.  I hope I'm wrong because the alternatives to Rick are that bad.

Defeating Obama with a liberal, progressive, big government, statist with an (R) in front of its name would be a Pyrrhic victory for us all.

Finally, I'd like to thank Michele Bachmann.  There are a lot of us out there that appreciated your effort to save this country.  It won't be forgotten.  You have become my "adopted" congresswoman.  Keep fighting the good fight.  Persons of your caliber are so lacking in our government.  This country had an opportunity to drastically alter the course we're on.  The people went with status quo.  Once again, we're getting the government we deserve.

Chris Williams
Albuquerque, New Mexico