Temperamental conservatism understands that in order to preserve anything, it must be kept within certain limits in order to be sustainable. It recognizes that resources are finite and can be exhausted by current generations at the expense of posterity. Finally, it knows that a nation’s power and influence are things that have to be husbanded and not frittered away in pointless displays of supremacy. Many Americans still possess a conservative temperament, but if they vote for Romney they are doing so in spite of that temperament and not because of it.