Republican Candidates
As the New Hampshire primary trundles forward we are certain to get an ever narrowing selection of Republican Candidates. Normally the the time my home state of Tennessee gets into the fray - we all but have a GOP candidate. So before the field is winnowed by the wind of candidates having to bail out due to lack of money I thought to compare the front runners and why they make strong or weak candidates. Regardless of how the media polls and tells you, more or less, how to vote.
The number one thing I would advise any voter to do - is vote your conscience. Do not vote for the horse that is expected to win. In short do not bandwagon your vote. May as well stay home if that is how you pick your candidate.
So the first candidate I would vote for would be Rick Santorum. Now Rick is a conservative if ever there was one. He has been called by some of his Senate staff 'a missionary who happens to work in the Senate'. He does not back off the tough issues and can
logically reason why he what he believes is also rational. He seems moral enough I could see, him contrasting to Obama enough to actually be able to debate him. He has that feisty conservatism in his veins - while no Ann Coulter he is able to defend and assail other positions. If Santorum gets beat up in South Carolina too badly then he is probably out.
My second pick is Huntsman. Not for any particular reason - he is what he is NOT. He is bland and predictable and also a Mormon - but not so dodgy as the other one - Romney. First time we have had two Mormons make it this far by the way.
Next up on my list would be Romney. Now Romney is Mormon, but they are moral people and stick to those often enough. He has some business background, even if a bit corporate, he knows what businesses want and need. He is a bit checkered with Romneycare looming in the past. He used to be pro-death (pro-choice for my democratic readers), but now has seen the light and is now pro-child(pro-life).
Politics makes you change your mind the longer you stay in it it would seem. So he is what he believes the crowd wants him to be. Dangerous once in office - he will do exact what he REALLY believes which - no one really knows. Which is why he is my third pick. Even though the press would have you believe he is a shoe-in.
Gingrich is a smart fellow. Perhaps the smartest on the field. He is a moderate though. Which means status quo more times than not. He is my next pick down the ladder.
Who have I left out - Perry! He is too much like Bush.
Would send troops back into Iraq. Not exactly popular especially if you have visited. I found out first hand that planetary temperature gets up to 117! He stumbled in a debate and that would murder him verse Obama. Bush seemed sharper verses Gore in his debates than Perry has been.
Now for the one, the only, the internet sensation! Ron Paul! Now admittedly I was a Ron Paul voter in 2008. Which means by the time it got to Tennessee he was off the ballot. Its called a write in folks. McCain carried the state anyhow. Why is Ron Paul my last pick? Job security. Ron Paul believes we have an empire. He is an isolationist. Which caused both WWI and WWII. We stayed out of everyone's business until we fully mobilize to fight a World War. This delay caused tens of millions of fatalities. With interventionist strategics (post-WWII) Nazi Germany would never have been able to build more than 10 Panzers in the 1930's angry Royal Marines coming ashore. WWII averted.
Another of Paul's shortcomings is the lack of support for Israel. The removal of most of the departments (energy, education, transportation). The constitution is a very scant framework for government and we have improved and up-sized government since then. Some might want to go back to what would essentially be a confederation of states - but that did not work from 1776 to 1798 anyhow. Paul gains major support for the legalization of now illegal drugs, pushing the abortion issue to the state level. Prolonged isolationism would cause another regional war. Which could become global. Since states rights are popular, he does garner some support on polls - he never gains ground. Paul is dangerous for what we have made America in the past - since 1798. If you want to go back to 1776 with a dim federal government as states as wildly different as can be - feel free to write him in. He would also cut the military to the bone.
So in short. Santorum, Huntsman, Romney, Gingrich, Perry, Paul. I would also place a second term of Obama between Perry and Paul - and he is a secret Muslim socialist. =) Scares business owners to death too.
Tedrick
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