I think by this point that it should be painfully obvious to everyone Republicans aren’t conservatives and conservatives aren’t Republicans. I’ve been struggling lately to define what, exactly, the Republican Party is on a philosophical level – and I think I’ve finally settled on an answer. The Republican Party represents an entirely different branch of conservative thought, completely different and separate from religious conservatism, fiscal conservatism, libertarianism, or any other form of conservatism that leaps to mind. Unquestioningly, the Republican Party is an entirely different beast. It is popular conservatism.