Conservative Problems

Barlett discusses the problems conservatives might have with President Bush outside of the Iraq war. However, he concludes that

John Kerry is worse on every one of these issues. Imprisoned by the left wing of his party, there is no possibility that he will pick up the votes of disaffected conservatives — even those who strenuously oppose the Iraq war. In the end, there is no place except the Republican party for them to go.

However, Ryan Lizza over at The New Republic disagrees. He cites a letter he received:

There is no real mystery to the disillusionment with Bush in my part of the country. It's about Fallujah. In particular, there is a widespread feeling that the President is wasting the lives of our sons and daughters while negotiating with killers...The idea of losing those children in the pursuit of a "political" settlement is beyond comprehension.

I would bet that Lizza and Barlett are talking about two different types of voters. Bartlett seems to be referring to the intellectual conservative driven by a number of issues, whereas Lizza is talking about the grassroots voters who simply are Republican. I would also interject that it's not about smart and dumb, it's simply a different cultural vantage point of the same understanding.