Republican "conservatism"

I was reading Stephen Perkins article at Outset, The GOP’s Not Dead, and Neither Is Conservatism, and one thing struck me about the article: The separation of "conservative" from Republican.

Here is the opening for the editorial:

Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee for president on Tuesday night, and a lot of conservatives are not happy. It may be a hard fact to swallow, but the #NeverTrump movement was unsuccessful, and it is now time for conservatives to look towards the future. 

I get it. I was also disappointed in the voters who elevated Trump into the position he now finds himself in. I felt as if the GOP, the party that closely aligns with my conservative values, was now being taken over by a progressive liberal. I must admit, I even had the thought that this was the end for the Republican Party. 

But after watching MITT for the 5th time, I went to sleep, woke up this morning, and realized how bright the future is for conservatism. 

My thinking was wrong and immature: The Republican Party will not be brought down because of one man or one election, and conservatism is not hanging in the balance. 

We’ll be just fine… if we want to be. 

As conservatives, we often speak out against a victimhood mentality. But this week, a lot of us are acting like all hope is lost because things didn’t go our way. We’re acting like victims. And just like any victim, we can either let this situation keep us down, or we can take control of our future.

Around this point in the article, it occurred to me: Let's take this a step further, and separate "fiscal conservatism" from the Republican label. It needs to be, especially when you consider the last truly fiscally conservative Republican was Calvin Coolidge. Before we bow at the altar of Reagan, remember he talked a good game but he overspent like crazy (I won't argue his reasons for doing it here). Even Bill Clinton was more fiscally conservative than any Republican in my lifetime.

While Perkins is right about conservatives being against the victimhood mentality, we are also for taking responsibility, which is something the Republican Party hasn't done for it's profligate ways in almost a century. They need to take responsibility and admit they have a problem. Or as Pogo once said:

At what point do fiscal conservatives admit the Republicans have absolutely no interest in fiscal conservatism?