After getting the results of the South Carolina primary and the Nevada caucus, which was broken up by my being at work, I have had to make some hard decisions. First, I extend congratulations to Mitt Romney on his third victory in Nevada, as well as to John McCain in South Carolina. Both candidates worked hard to win, and deserve their victories.
But the battle for the soul of the GOP is coming to a head. First, the losers:
Mike Huckabee's Iowa surge is gone, his momentum is gone, and soon he will be gone. Goodbye and good riddance to liberal candidates.
Fred Thompson, sadly, must also bow out at this point, as he simply did not get the job done. He was the most consistently conservative of the bunch and will be missed
Duncan Hunter pulled out too, so I'll mention him out of kindness. Not that he was ever really in it.
This leaves today's victors, as well as Rudy Giuliani, who is preparing for battle in Florida. So the time has come to choose. For although every candidate has some flaws, we are at a point where we can no longer sit and cheer on a personal favorite. One of these three will be the next Republican nominee. I'll include some of my original comments from my first lineup.
Rudy Giuliani - While the Mayor is someone who will be a fantastic leader, he's pro-choice, iffy on guns, and generally a social liberal. Rudy has yet to get into this race, and if he dominates Florida, he will be back in it immediately. Despite some of his questionable social views, I believe he will, at the very least, keep the country on an even keel while continuing the fight against Evil. If Rudy emerges as the nominee, I will be proud to stand behind him and support him.
John McCain - I have one serious problem with him. A little bill called McCain-Feingold, which is simply an attempt to rape the first amendment. If he gets the nod, I will have a problem. Simply put, I expect to be screwed by a Democrat. I can't, in good conscience, vote for a Republican who would screw me. Okay, I forgot the gang of 14, McCain-Kennedy Amnesty, lame-assed excuses for not supporting tax cuts, and the simple fact he revels in opposing the good things Bush proposed. If McCain wins the nomination, I will consider going Libertarian, despite the fact it could put Hillary in the White House. Then, if we are lucky, a true Conservative will rise in four years to bring true conservatism into the 21st century.
Mitt Romney - Romney has plenty of positions he has held the last few years that are out of step with the Republican party platform. But he also has the problem of the flip-flop. Despite this, I'm finding Mitt particularly appealing. He has been successful in the private sector. He's been somewhat questionable as governor of Massachusetts, but consider how insanely liberal the state is. But most importantly, he has the lead in delegates, more victories than any other candidate, and appears to be conservative enough to be the next President.
So based on this, I am giving my tentative endorsement to Mitt Romney. The endorsement is based on the need to coalesce behind a candidate. With Fred out, I'm going to pick the winning candidate who mostly reflects my views. And more importantly, we have to get McCain out of the race. In addition, we need to get to Fred and Mike, when they leave the race, to throw their delegates behind either Mitt or Rudy. So to those who support either of these candidate, you know what the right thing to do is.
And for giving me some good coverage while I was at work, the link of the day is Mike's America.
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