The Candidates

Seems the Presidential race is is full swing and has been now for several months. Is it me or are they starting earlier and earlier? Before you know it people will be announcing their Presidential aspirations a month after a new President is sworn in. After all, you gotta build up that big ol' war chest.
Seeing as I generally vote Republican I'm going to dedicate this blog to my view of the current field of candidates.

Rudy Guliani. Rudy has created quite a buzz around his ability to gather support. I see him as the leader on what we need for a strong defense and military. I also like his ability to be tough on crime. He has a good amount of experience albeit with a mega-city and not any state experience. What I find lacking in Rudy is his stance on abortion and his liberal leaning tendencies. Lack of a firm immigration policy and his personal history could be the issues that make me look elsewhere. He's tough, but is he conservative enough with budgets and Constitutional rights.

Mitt Romney. Mitt has a lot going for him. I like his fiscal responsibility and business sense. He would make a great leader for our economy and would hopefully reduce government waste and spending as well as put us back on track. We need someone like Mitt to keep Congress' spending under control, because frankly they can't do it themselves. Mitt doesn't seem to have strong foreign policy experience and his past dealing from the left only to move right could be something that gives me pause. I like Mitt, but can he be more than 1 dimensional. He also needs to find a way to address the religion issue. I don't have a problem with it, but it does seem to pop up regularly and he needs to find a way to put it to rest.

John McCain. John is a wild card. He has strong qualifications in foreign policy and experience inside the beltway so he knows his way around. He also has valuable inside knowledge of Congress. But he comes from Congress and as such I haven't heard too much from him about how messed up they are which to me means he is complicit in the out of control spending spree. He also tends to break from the Republican party at times when he shouldn't and doesn't when he should. There's a reason he's not doing so well. He's his own problem.

Fred Thompson. I was one of the many who awaited Fred's jump into the race with high expectations. I am very disappointed. Fred's lackluster start is only fueling the controversy around his previous Senate record and rumors of his "lack of enthusiasm". He has a good pitch, but needs to refine the substance of his pitch and get more detailed. His folksy approach will only go so far. He had gravitas before he entered the race but seems to have been unable to maintain that perception. He could turn it around but he better get a plan and start getting out there. His MIA status on the campaign trail is hurting him.

The other candidates are so far behind (I should include John McCain in that group) that to vote for them at this time would be an effort in futility if you really intended to have your selection become President. That could change as there are a few that could be promising such as Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee but until they gain some traction we'll just focus on the main players.

Here's what I would like to see in a candidate:
Fiscally responsible. Reduce spending, cut taxes or hold them, get rid of earmarks and fund the most important issues such as Education, Defense, Housing, Social Security, Medicare, Infrastructure, and Children's Health care.
Secure our borders. Improve and modernize the military. Build foreign coalitions and relations. Pursue restructuring of the United Nations to clean out those with dismal human rights records and histories of corruption until they change their ways. Otherwise withdraw from the United Nations until action is taken. (I'd like to see how well they do without our tax dollars going to supporting the corruption rampant in that organization).
Reform the tax code. Reform Social Security. Reduce the size of government.
Reduce the national debt. Improve trade and encourage and assist nations who are struggling to jump start their trade. Equalize trade agreements. If you tax our goods coming into your country we will tax yours accordingly. Ban partial birth abortion. It is a cruel procedure that goes against everything we should stand for with the exception of if the life of the mother is in jeopardy.

So where is my candidate? I really don't know. I'm sure that I am in the same boat as many others this election cycle. There are parts of each that I like but not one has all the parts assembled into one complete candidate. Perhaps this is why the Republican membership is so fractured.