Where is the Republican Backbone?

I don't have any idea what is wrong with the Republicans. Things looked very promising in '94 when they got in. Newt Gingrich had laid out the agenda for the first 100 days, and everything went like clockwork right up to the last thing had been done. Then suddenly it was as if they didn't know how to use the power they had. To make matters worse, they bought into this kinder, gentler notion that seemed to try to emulate the Democrats. The Neo-Cons took prominence and the entire Republican message was lost. The voters wanted a change from the Democrats, and didn't get it. What they did get was more of the same thing they had voted to reject. Now, I can't tell the Democrats from the Republicans, and I feel that neither party is deserving of office. Reaching out is not serving the voters. There is supposed to be strife between the left and the right. How else do we get laws that we all can live with? If we go too far left we become Socialist, too far right is close to Fascism. We want to stay near the middle so that there is balance. When you reach out in the spirit of too much cooperation and just to get along, that balance is lost, and everyone loses no matter which side they are on. While the Democrats may be able to get some things done in the House, it still has to go to the Senate, and there simply is not enough majority there to accomplish much without major help from the Republican Senators. That is about the only good thing right now. I seriously don't think any investigations will go very far, but if there are any, they will take away from the real work that should be done there.