Kivus

For a number of weeks I took a break. I took a break from listening to the constant dumb beat of the media doom and gloom, I took a break from listening to people like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid spew forth their ideas to “fix” our country, and I took a break from the presidential election. After years of following everything so closely, I needed to recharge. Now, since we’re actually in an presidential election year, I’ve started following things closely again. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, here’s my run down of presidential candidates:

Mrs. Clinton & Obama

They’re fairly interchangeable at this point. Hilary is the devil we know, while Obama is the devil no one knows. Neither one articulates any position on anything (except that they’re against fighting Islamic radicals in Iraq) and neither one of them has ever accomplished anything of substance. If they were beholden to a group other than the far left, I’d write them off as useless; however, due to their allegiance to the kooks of left, I find both of them to have potential to impact our country’s future in a very negative way.

Ron Paul

The darling of the internet. An isolationist & a protectionist who publicly claims to be in favor of a strictly abiding my the constitution. In a quick survey among my non-political online friends, it seems that a large number of them align strongly with Ron Paul’s views. I, on the other hand, find his views to be outdated and detrimental to continued American exceptionalism.

John McCain

I have utmost respect for a man who has given so much for his country. I do not, however, agree with him on a number of issue: (1) his opposition to the Bush tax cuts, (2) his immigration policy that includes amnesty for illegals (if it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck…), (3) and the way he would deal with terrorist detainees, an approach inline with the ACLU. I cannot support a man who I disagree with that dramatically.

Mike Huckabee

His strong Christian faith is always a positive for a candidate. On a number of social issues (abortion, gay “marriage”, etc…) I align with him. His fiscal policies, however, as outlined by his record in Arkansas, are distressing. Combined with his populist rhetoric and apparent open border tendencies, I fear that those who are in his camp are being duped.

Rudy Giuliani

We are at war with the irreconcilable element of radical Islam. For that reason, Rudy Giuliani stands out as a strong candidate to lead us. Unfortunately, his stance on social issues such as being pro-abortion, pro-gun control, and pro-open borders prevent him from being a candidate I can fully get behind.

Fred Thompson

If D.A. Arthur Branch was running for president, I would vote for him in a heart beat. Unfortunately, it’s not Arthur Branch that’s running, but the actor who played Arthur Branch: Fred Thompson. I have high hopes for Fred Thompson, because he has articulated the things I believe in. It also unfortunate, because I fear that not enough people are hearing him. His late entry into the race generated buzz, however, his name has been lacking in a large amount of the media coverage recently and I worry that the chance he had to kick in the door of the established candidates has passed.

Mitt Romney

The charges leveled against Mitt are rather weak in context, namely “he’s a politician” and “he’s a flip flopper.” Looking at the latter charge first, Mitt’s apparent transgression was switching from a pro-abortion position to pro-life position. The general rule in politics is you get one change on the abortion issue. Both Al Gore & Dick Gephart were pro-life before they realized that in order to excel with the Left, one must be in favor of unfettered abortion. Unlike Mr. Gore & Mr. Gephart, however, Mitt’s realignment has been scrutinized heavily and, more importantly, was a move in the right direction (pun partially intended). The charge of Mitt being a “politician” are also built on a foundation of cards. Mitt was a successfully CEO as well as a Governor who managed to implement strong free market principles in a very liberal state. The main difference between Mitt and someone like McCain or Giuliani is that, if in the past, he has said the wrong thing, everything he’s saying now, is the right thing.