Rick Moran at Right Wing Nut House has a painfully astute analysis of the state of the Republican race for President of the United States. Barring the ability of Rudy Giuliani to enter this race with a bang in Florida or Mitt Romney being able to establish himself on Super Tuesday (24 states hold primaries on February 5th) then the race appears to be John McCain’s to lose.
Mike Huckabee won’t be a factor. His base of evangelical voters is far too narrow to translate to a big enough win to garner the nomination. If he can’t pick up the win in South Carolina, where evangelicals account for at least half of the electorate, he won’t be able to compete anywhere else. His support among non-evangelical voters is quite weak. In South Carolina he came in dead last among those voters behind McCain, Romney and Thompson.
And that brings us to Fred Dalton Thompson who has been the last, best hope of conservatives. He managed to eke out a third place showing in South Carolina just ahead of Mitt Romney and well behind John McCain and Mike Huckabee. But is it time to face the writing on the wall? I would have him stay in the race through Super Tuesday, but with very little money he would not have the resources to compete against the front runner John McCain or against the deep pockets of Mitt Romney who can personally fund his own campaign. It saddens me to write this, but the time has come for Fred! to withdraw from the race.
So where am I today? Who can I support and adhere to the principles that I have held dear for most of my life? It is a time for tough choices.
Bill Quick at Daily Pundit has voiced a lot of the frustration that I am feeling. And like him, I will not cast a vote for John McCain.
The laundry list of John McCain’s abandonment of Republican values is long - the Gang of 14, lobbying and voting against President Bush’s tax cuts (that he now conveniently supports in time for an election), McCain-Feingold, immigration reform masking an ugly attempt to force amnesty for illegal aliens upon an unwilling America, and his contempt for evangelicals in the 2000 Presidential race are just a few. Those are not Republican values. Those are not the acts of a conservative Republican. John McCain is not a conservative.
I am going to take some time to really ponder if I can vote for Mitt Romney when Texas holds its primary on March 4th. He is the only candidate outside of Fred Thompson that has a chance at winning my vote. I admire and respect Rudy Giuliani for his leadership in the wake of 9/11. But his record has shown me that he is far too liberal for me to support. I believe in the Republican party platform. I support less government, lower taxes, a respect for the unborn, a strong national defense and recognition that the 10th Amendment means something (the founders didn’t put it in the Bill of Rights for nothing).
If I can’t bring myself to vote for Mitt Romney, my last option remains to cast a write in vote for a true conservative as a protest.
Tough Choices.
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Welcome back!! You were missed.
I’m with you on everyone except Rudy. But if Rudy doesn’t win Florida and I have to pick between Romney and McCain, I’ll pick Romney in a heartbeat even though he’s my 3rd choice after Rudy and Fred. The thought of McCain being the nominee makes my heart truly sick. How people can forget about the gang of 14 and the 5 million other betrayals is beyond me.
I am relieved that it looks like Huckabee may be losing steam. I know all of these misguided Christians who think he is great. I may be an Evangelical but I can see when someone is a socialist whether he is a Christian or not.
Hey! I am glad to be back.
I think that Rudy has gotten in to the fray way too late. McCain has already built up momentum and the only one who can stop him now is Romney. I have no clue what the McCain amnesia is about. He is not even a real Republican.
Huckabee is a trainwreck and it is good to know that non-evangelicals aren’t buying the snake oil that he is selling. I’m an evangelical, but I don’t check my brain at the door when it comes to choosing a potential POTUS.
I couldn’t agree with you more about Huckabee. I am just sick at how people from my church and my old church are just seeing surface things about him and jumping on the bandwagon. This Evangelical hasn’t liked him since day 1.
The latest Rasmussen poll has Romney leading in Florida, even beating McCain. If Rudy doesn’t win or come in a strong 2nd I will be voting for Romney on Super Tuesday. I’m pretty hopeful that we will be able to stop McCain, there are too many Republicans that don’t like him, WITH A PASSION. Also, in both New Hampshire and South Carolina, Independents were what won him the elections. He won’t have the Independent help in a lot of states in the future. I think he is beatable.
My despair was high though when I thought it was going to come down to Huckabee and McCain. The thought of not having even one decent choice made me want to be sick. Romney may not be ideal but he is sooooooo much better than McCain or Huckabee. Rush was talking about all of this today and made some really good points as usual.
On my radio show I’ve done several shows focused on different candidates. I’ve done a Fred Thompson show and a Rudy show. I may end up having to do a Romney show, we shall see
I do think that Rudy’s strategy of entering the fight this late is flawed and that Florida is not going to be kind to him.
With Fred! now out of the race I think that his supporters, like me, who wanted true conservatism are not going to flock to either McCain or Huckabee. I think it will be a boost to Romney in Florida and that he will take that state.
The days of the open primaries giving McCain the illusion of vitality are over. We have reached the real game and Republican voters know who and what he is and I cannot see them voting for him on a large scale.
Mitt isn’t the guy I want to back, but in order to stop McCain he is the guy I am going to back.
I need to listen to your show.