*** Bit of a change of tune there, wouldn't you say, old boy? ***
Not at all. I tend to lean conservative, but I'm a registered Independent. There's not a lot of conservatism in today's republican party and I'd never blindly follow one party simply because I despised the other. The only reason I held my nose and voted for GWB in 2000 and 2004 was because he was marginally better than Gore and Kerry; and they were pitiful. Prior to that I voted for Clinton; twice.
