I should be happy about this and in some ways I am. I don’t want a conservatism devoted to soothing the culture war base with government aid and support. But a reasonable small government conservative? Someone who does not actually despise government? Someone who can see the fruits of compromise for the body politic as a whole? Tumbleweeds, no? Even Huntsman joined the hands up moment - perhaps the most important single moment in recent GOP politics - when all the candidates declared they would walk away from a debt deal that was 10 - 1 spending cuts to revenue increases. That was when they told us they were an ideological and religious movement, not a party fit for actual government.