Matthew Christ needs to learn a thing or two about the political ideology of Americans before he writes another column. In his latest one, "Republicans should move away from fringe," he seems to be under the impression that this country leans moderate to left, and therefore the Republicans lost the presidential election. With every column of his I read, I find myself questioning his understanding of what a conservative is. He seems to think that we are all "Bible-thumping," overzealous patriots, and I for one resent his attempts to pigeonhole us.
According to an October Gallup poll, 40 percent of Americans identify themselves as conservative, 36 percent as moderate and only 20 percent as liberal. Republicans didn't lose the last election because they became too conservative; they lost it because they moved away from conservative principles.
Too many Republican politicians want to straddle political ideology, thinking they are playing it safe. This is what has hurt the party the most, and if they don't come back to their conservative principles, they will lose more elections. Conservatives come from all walks of life. Not all of us are rich, "Bible-thumping" white guys. I'm a conservative Libertarian, a humanist and a person of principle who will not straddle ideology to appease liberals, as so many moderate Republicans do.
