I keep imaging a group of Republican business leaders sitting around in Washington trying to figure out which of these candidates angling for the GOP nomination could possibly be worth investing in. They’re all seemingly decent — except for Rudy, of course — but they seem so lightweight and doomed. The bigshots must be beside themselves that nobody has emerged who could possibly win.
Personally, I like John McCain, even though I disagree with him about the war, social issues and more. He has heft and experience. But the Republican base hates him.
The rest of the GOP presidential contenders just seem like so much confetti, sometimes pretty but useless.
So what to do on primary day? Who you going to vote for? How come?
The West Hartford Blog 
I personally fall so centrist, its very hard for me. I grew up in West Hartford for 18 years, then went to NY. Every political test has me right down the middle, with 5% margin on either side.
I just need a nice down the middle candidate.
That sounds like Romney on the GOP side. I’m rooting for him.
HILLARY
I’m sticking with McCain, although I don’t think he can get the nomination because, as WHDad commented, the conservative base of the party has him pegged as a RINO (Republican In Name Only). It will be interesting to see what the Religious Right will do if the nominee is not someone of their liking. Right now I think only Huckabee qualifies, and even he has some tax increases on his record in Arkansas that makes the fiscal conservatives uneasy.
Personally, I think the only way a Republican can win in ’08 is if Hillary is the nominee on the other side. None of the current GOP candidates seem to be jazzing up the troops, so whoever is the nominee will need a heaping helping of Anyone But Hillary to motivate the base.
The only way a Republican will win is if Bloomberg throws his hat in the ring and pulls votes from the Democrats, ala Ralph Nader. I believe the nation is at an “Anyone But Republican” point, not just Anyone But Hillary.
Let’s get this straight. I, turtle, support Barack Obama. So nice try, Joe, or whoever fuzzy up there may be.
If I were voting Republican, I’d go with Mitt Romney, since he seems to be the least destructive R candidate. And I hope Ron Paul stays in the race. Gold standard aside, he is telling some hard truths about the state of the nation that the other Rs never acknowledge in their scramble to convince the voters that they are Reagan redux. By the way, Ron Paul won last night’s debate in SC according to Fox viewers.
McCain is the candidate of perpetual war in the Middle East. Also, while he rightly challenged the Bush administration on its appalling and anti-American torture policy, ultimately he fell in line and voted Yes on the Military Commissions Act. Shameful.
I should add that yes I recognize that Ron Paul is a crank and apparently a bigot as well, and I did not mean to lend him any credence whatsoever. Still it is fine entertainment watching Paul blow his top over Iraq and the national debt while the rest of the cast mentally rehearse their tax-cutting lines.
I lived in Connecticut off and on for 10 years, but moved back to my native NH in 2002. I remember the CT GOP as pretty moderate and business-oriented. Will McCain be helped by the endorsement he got by Senator Palpatine (Lieberman)? Palpatine is very popular amongst Connecticut Republicans.
John McCain is the only one in this field who has done anything that makes him ready to be president. He’s got my vote.
out of all the candidates both republican and democrat, ron paul is the only viable choice for true freedom and prosperity, please visit ronpaullibrary.org and read more about him before voting for someone who can say the right words without supportive specifics.
I’m definitely supporting Mitt Romney although in Connecticut he’ll have a tough time placing higher than second at this point since McCain has long locked up the votes of Connecticut’s liberal Republicans.
If McCain is the nominee, I’ll reluctantly support him since he’s better than the the three candidates on the Democratic side. That being said – McCain is hardly the Republican candidate of choice though. He’s weak on immigration, weak on tax cuts, and a Democratic collaborator beyond campaign finance reform. (And as a side note – Huckabee is worse).
It’s no surprise to me that the media loves John McCain. He’s their kind of Republican… moderate on most issues. Liberal on others. Plus, I really don’t like his arrogant behavior at the podium, its one thing to be all business, its another to cut down your opponents and make nasty comments. He’s a long way from the positive, optimistic attitude of Ronald Reagan.
Mitt’s leadership in business, the Olympics, and working with Mass Dems is pretty significant. And he’s a humble guy. And he’s probably best suited for the job.
Ron Paul distinguised himself as an odd ball during the last televised debate. In fact, I found him an embarrassing act on the stage who stole good debate time between viable candidates (and you could get a sense of frustration from the othe candidates that they felt the same). Fox’s decision to include him was misguided. Sure he represents different viewpoints, but he doesn’t have it together, and even if his points have merit, he wasn’t able to articulate them in a clear and coherent manner. He’s the Jerry Brown of the Republican Party.
Amy’s reference to Bloomberg as a feasible candidate is laughable. If Bloomberg were to win, he’d help the Democrats. He might siphon off a few votes in New York, and maybe a few from retired Jewish folks in Florida, but he’s got a snowball’s chance in hell of resonating with the Republican base.
It’s funny that the media has deemed Mitt the establishment’s candidate. I think he’s less establishment than McCain since McCain has been in Washington for decades. Mitt isn’t perfect, but he’s more electable than the rest of the GOP field.
“Ron Paul distinguised himself as an odd ball during the last televised debate. In fact, I found him an embarrassing act on the stage who stole good debate time between viable candidates (and you could get a sense of frustration from the othe candidates that they felt the same). Fox’s decision to include him was misguided. Sure he represents different viewpoints, but he doesn’t have it together, and even if his points have merit, he wasn’t able to articulate them in a clear and coherent manner.”
Here I hope this clears this up for you…
Ron Paul is the only right choice.
I find Ron Paul to be actually the least crazy of Republicans. The other ones all want to spend this country into the toilet, stay in Iraq, bomb Iran, and leave our civil liberties by the wayside.
But I guess to you, spending like drunken sailors and bombing innocent people is ‘sane’. In fact, I find him more sane than Hillary, and ‘more together’ than Obama.
As for the person who claimed that Ron Paul is a racist, they are only repeating smears. That person is the equivalent to the ‘Swift Boaters for Truth’. The Austin NAACP president, Nelson Linder, has said that Ron Paul is not racist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvFLSwDvBUA
Tell it to The New Republic:
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca
http://tinyurl.com/3caypg
There really isn’t anything to clear up. The entire country saw Ron out of it on nationwide TV. But I’m sure he means well. The threats of the 80s or 90s are not the same threats of today.
You see the problem is that we cannot simply put a force field around the country (although at times I wish we would too) to protect ourselves and let the bad guys go about their business. Instead in this day and age, you have to be proactive and strike the enemy hard and consistently. “Peace talks” are a thing of the 80s and 90s and they didn’t accomplish much. I hate having to be a hawk, but if we won’t, no one else will. And since we do, we should have the biggest say.
Ron Paul wants us to withdraw from the world. We just can’t do that. But, we can do better at making others chip in. For example, its high time that the Germans and Japanese step it up, the seem to reap the most and contribute the least. Hiding behind WWII is mighty convenient, but now its time for these democratic nation to start pitching in and carrying their weight with men and blood. Freedom isn’t free. No matter what the wingnuts on the left tell you. Most of them would be the first ones to get their rears kicked in a Bin Laden society anyway.
Ron Paul has had his say, and his message isn’t resonating. It would be nice if he did the classy thing and halted his campaign – in the same manner as Governor Richardson, Fred Thompson and hopefully soon – Mike Huckabee.