Mitt Romney On Permanent Probation

In 2008, conservatives were shortchanged because they did not have a candidate that represented them in the Republican primary. In 2012, many conservatives shortchanged the one candidate that spoke for them. This is my gut reaction to the news that Rick Santorum is suspending his campaign, making it official that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. It was said that Romney was the only Republican candidate that could beat President Obama in November. Yet when considering Obama's approval ratings, it seems clear that Santorum would have been able to mount a credible challenge. It would have been Santorum's race to lose. But in backing Romney, conservatives have saddled themselves with a candidate they can not trust to govern conservatively. We have no clue if Romney will campaign conservatively. If he doesn't, many conservatives may stay home. I won't be one of those, but many who believe the way I do will. If Romney wins, conservatives will have to be ready at a moments notice to exert pressure to make sure he governs conservatively. Romney may govern from the right to maintain good relations with the base of the party. But were he to win a second term, could he be trusted not to drift to the left? A second term would give Romney what Obama recently called "breathing room." In the next few years there are going to be more retirements from the Supreme Court. If Obama wins, or if President Romney fails to nominate reliable conservatives, everything conservatives have worked for over the past 40 odd years will have been for nothing. If this happens, conservatives will have no one to blame but themselves. I had looked forward to a time when I could rest easy, knowing a reliable conservative was governing the Executive branch.  If Romney wins, he will be on permanent probation with me until he leaves office.