Thursday, March 09, 2006

Kickoff election 2008

Sure, they've all been laying the groundwork for months, but, as MSNBC takes pains to remind me, the game really begins Friday at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis. Everyone* will be there, and MSNBC will be doing a straw poll, a poll Bush won in '98. But now Bush has been a lame duck for about 6 months, with the congressional leadership wandering further every day. So now I must decide who I want for President in '08. In no particular order:

Choice 1:
John McCain

Fresh look, depsite being old. War vet. Pro-war. Pro-more war. Pro-life. Pretty conservative. Pro-no talking 30 days before the general election, therfore appearing moderate and independant.

Choice 2:
Mitt Romney

Mormon. Good businessman. Good speaker. Charismatic. Playing the outside reformer card, daring to question Bush even before it was popular in GOP circles. Saying the right things now on the social stuff, but seemed a little squishy when having to contend with the realities of Massachusetts politics. Squeaky-clean.

Choice 3:
Rudy Giuliani

The man of the hour after 9/11. Appeared to clean up New York (maybe just coincidence). Pro-choice. Pro-gay marriage. Already exposed the skeleton in closet so no suprises.

Choice 4:
George Allen

Camera loves him. Young. Appears to be the establishment/Christian Right candidate. Don't know much more than that, hoping to learn more.


And the winner is......... either McCain or Romney at this point, unless someone else really impresses me. Giuliani is too liberal, doens't appear to have a broad moral grounding (Law and Order is great, but it's not everything). Allen (from what I've seen) parrots the Religious Right talking points which bothers me both because he's not thinking for himself and because I'm routinely astonished by some Religious Right viewpoints (more on that later).

I really don't like the McCain-Feingold bill, but McCain seems OK on most other things (suprise me). Romney hasn't always talked the talk when he had to get elected by Massachusetts, and seems a little too opportunistic, but seems preferable to McCain on many issues.

*by everyone I mean everyone important, meaning no Democrats.

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