Listen up

Listen up because this is important. How can I support Barack Obama when I believe myself to be conservative? Former representative and Republican, Jim Leach spoke at the Democratic National Convention last night:

...the way today’s Republican Party has broken with its conservative heritage.

The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts.

How can anyone call themselves a conservative and support military operations overseas? How can anyone call themselves a conservative if they let the government choose what a woman can do with her body? How can a conservative government have so much power that they may ask telecommunications companies for records which incriminate American citizens, and they would comply? Would a party aligned with conservation spend more than it takes in?

Sure, there are some policies I'm not in favor of because I think they will be costly. But in my voting decision, I'm going for total cost conservatism not just line item.