In this political season, to voting conservative means more than you might think it does. Simply stating that you are a red voter does not give someone a clear answer as to where you stand on political and social issues. The problem is that there are more factions in the Republican Party than there are gray hairs on Obama’s head.
What DOES it mean to be a Republican in this day and age? This question is not easily answered.
In fact, it is so unanswerable in terms of the differences between the factions, that the only long-term solution is the dissolution of the party itself into several different political platforms.
The many factions or wings in the party include: moderates, theocons, neocons, libertarians, paleo-conservatives, fiscal conservatives,  social conservatives and traditional conservatives, to name a few. The existence of many wings of the party begs the question: Why are all these different factions still considered one political party? Would it be the end of the world if the Republican Party as we know it disbanded into the shadows never to be seen again? I think not.
There are those within the party that are more socially liberal, these are the RINO’s (Republican in name only) or moderates as they are commonly called. They generally side with Democrats on most social issues, but can be fiscally conservative. Then there are those who support the expansion of American ideology and culture to other regions of the world and foreign countries. These are referred to as neoconservatives.
George W. Bush was a neocon, in my opinion. The exact opposite of a neocon is a paleo-conservative. A paleo-conservative is someone with a non-intervention attitude in foreign affairs. They strongly oppose the modern political ideology and often are left behind without representation in the political realm, but find representation in writing outlets and magazines.
Theocons are those that view the world in a Judeo-Christian way, and believe in “democratic capitalism.” They criticize the world based on their Jewish or Christian beliefs and ideologies. Fiscal conservatives are those that believe in small government, which goes hand in hand with reduced government spending, and a laissez faire attitude in the economic realm. They also believe in free trade with foreign countries. Social conservatives are strongly opposed to gay marriage, abortion and stem cell research, and believe affirmative action is basically useless. Most of the time social conservatives disagree with libertarians, who mostly support extremely small government, or as Rand Paul would say, “a government so small you can barely see it.”
It is quite possible to be fiscally liberal and socially conservative. In fact that is probably the way to go. I am sure there are many other factions in the Republican Party but I have listed those I am familiar with. Being both fiscally and socially conservative is an attitude. paleo-conservatives are socially conservative just as moderates can be fiscally conservative.
As you can see, it would not be difficult in any way to kill the Republican Party and create two or more new political parties. If this implosion of red were to happen, there would be so much less inter-party politics because those with different views than yours would reside in another aisle.
At least two new parties need to be created, one consisting of the RINOs and libertarians (maybe), and the other consisting of neocons, theocons, fiscal conservatives and paleo-cons. Better yet, if the naleo-cons can’t get along with the neocons, they can go ahead and make their own party.
To be clear, U.S. political parties have been in flux since the beginning of the nation. As our priorities change and factions become stronger or more alienated from the whole, different parties have been created. It’s where we got the Whigs and even the Democrats.
Is it not that “screw you I’m try’na do my own thing” attitude what being an American is all about? When we stood up against the British in the 1700’s we did so because we did not believe in their ideology. If we don’t like something, we have a history of shooting whatever institution, like the British, the bird and doing our own thing, and I would not be opposed to those within our party to doing the same.