Ever since I gave up on John McCain I have been undecided on who I wanted to be our next President.
I still like and respect John McCain and would like him to be our next president. I just don't see him making it because he has alienated too many Republicans over campaign fiance reform and the immigration issue. I also disagree with him on those issues but can overlook them. Many Republicans can't.
For a while, I leaned toward Rudy Giuliani because I feel he is a leader who could take on Hillery. In the past few weeks there have been just too many questions raised about his finances and ethical missteps regarding the spending of public money to "taxi" his then girlfriend. There are also questions about his lobbying efforts. I am afraid if he gets the nomination too much time will be spent on these side issues.I also think Hillary Clinton is vulnerable on these same type of issues but Giuliani would have difficulty exploiting them because of his problems. He also is much more liberal than I am and most Republicans.If he gets the nomination I will vote for him and he still has a good chance of winning the nomination.
Mike Huckabee is too populist for my taste. His comments about Romney's religion were off base and mean and I think "code" to the religious right. I don't think he can win the general election. He may if he cleans his act up be a VP choice.
Fred Thompson gets in a good quip every now and then but does not have the energy to campaign for President. He looks old and tired. I have followed his career since Watergate and have never been impressed. He is a good actor and I enjoyed him in the movies where he should return. I like his campaign aid Rich Galen and I think Thompson is thoughtful on some of the issues that face us such as Social Security. I would certainly vote for him if he got the nomination.
This brings me to my choice, Mitt Romney. He is less conservative than I am but maybe the United States needs a break from candidates from the Right and Left. He has tireless energy and has impeccable character and a good family life. He is smart, and a very competent administrator. He handles himself well in the debates and has a good grasp of the issues. I think he is the type of person many American want to take over the leadership of this country. Someone who stresses competency over ideology. He is the right man for the time. Hopefully during his 8 years in office the Conservative Movement can develop some leaders to carry on after he leaves. As National Review said in it's editorial endorsement:
"Romney is an intelligent, articulate, and accomplished former businessman and governor. At a time when voters yearn for competence and have soured on Washington because too often the Bush administration has not demonstrated it, Romney offers proven executive skill. He has demonstrated it in everything he has done in his professional life, and his tightly organized, disciplined campaign is no exception. He himself has shown impressive focus and energy."
National Review also pointed out that unlike Huckabee he can unite the Republican/conservative base:
"Unlike some other candidates in the race, Romney is a full-spectrum conservative: a supporter of free-market economics and limited government, moral causes such as the right to life and the preservation of marriage, and a foreign policy based on the national interest. While he has not talked much about the importance of resisting ethnic balkanization — none of the major candidates has — he supports enforcing the immigration laws and opposes amnesty. Those are important steps in the right direction.Uniting the conservative coalition is not enough to win a presidential election, but it is a prerequisite for building on that coalition. Rudolph Giuliani did extraordinary work as mayor of New York and was inspirational on 9/11. But he and Mike Huckabee would pull apart the coalition from opposite ends: Giuliani alienating the social conservatives, and Huckabee the economic (and foreign-policy) conservatives. A Republican party that abandoned either limited government or moral standards would be much diminished in the service it could give the country."
Romney's Mormon religion has been brought up as an issue but as I stated below, on this blog, I believe he answered that in his speech at College Station in Texas. I also think it is important to point out that Romney has lived outside Utah most of his life around non Mormons. He grew up in Michigan where his father was Governor and would serve alcohol at political functions( he didn't drink himself). Mitt is from Massachusetts and was able to serve as governor of that state. Some Mormons tend to be isolated from people of other faiths but this is not a problem for Mitt and he has clearly thrived in the secular business world and in politics. If his religion was going to be a problem it would have already surfaced before this. I like the man and I like the way his religion has made him a better person and good family man.
As the primaries develop I may again change my mind but If I were voting today I would vote for Mitt Romney and hope he wins the Republican Nomination.
