I still can't bring myself to see Romney as a genuine kind of guy. I know it's partly because of his many changes in his stances from when he ran as governor in a liberal state to running for the Republican nomination. I think it's also partly because he strikes me as a pompous know-it-all irritant. That said, I can see him holding his own in a debate with either Obama or Hillary, being willing to say whatever he needed to win the debate. :-) So, if all I cared about was electing someone with an "R" after their name, he might be my guy.
McCain still puts me to sleep every time he speaks. I'm getting a little bit better at battling my narcolepsy when he's talking, so I can now say that I know where I do and don't disagree with him. I guess I can buy the idea that McCain took his wet-noodle whipping on immigration and he now understands that he must secure the border before he can address those already here. On issues of global warming, I think he's off his rocker. I appreciate that he appears to be willing to continue the fight against radical Islam. I don't necessarily think that McCain will be great at appointing constructionist judges - he was praising Sandra Day O'Connor in the last debate. While she wasn't the worst, she certainly wasn't the best.
Ron Paul... while I don't think that he's a viable candidate, I think it's reprehensible the way the press is treating him in the debates. If you're going to invite him to join, you need to treat him with the same respect you're affording the others.
Huckabee, while I don't find that I trust him completely, has two things going for him. Before I get into that, I want to state unequivocally that each and every viable candidate up on the debate stage is a liberal. I know that the talk show hosts are very opposed to Huckabee because he will "destroy the Republican party." I don't buy this. Huckabee won't destroy the Republican party any more than any other candidate on the stage (Ron Paul included). They're all men with great weaknesses in the conservative arena. Huckabee has a couple things in his favor, though. One, he has maintained a steady conservative message on social issues, and when these issues come up he is able to address them boldly and in a clear and simple way. When he speaks on social conservatism, he is able to communicate the message in a way that makes such clear sense it could even be called persuasive. Also, Huckabee could hold his own in a debate setting with the Democrat opposition. This is not to say that he would necessarily win every debate, but he would have a fighting chance. (Compare this to McCain who would operate like Dole after he just took a valium.)
Deep sigh... after saying all this, I guess I have to say that I think I'm back to Huckabee being the best choice available to me at this time. I wish there were a different one, but I don't see it. I would love to hear from anyone who disagrees....
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