Fred drops.

The GOP primary field got smaller today. Fred Thompson dropped out after placing third in South Carolina. This puts conservatives in a real pickle. Who to back now? Giuliani? Not a chance. Paul? Except for his head in the sand stand on Iraq and the fact that he has no chance then maybe. That leaves Huckabee, McCain, and Romney. McCain makes no claim to be conservative and the sting of remarks made in 2000 still rankles. Huckabee at least claims to be a conservative. He isn't though in most areas and seems to have a problem getting his positions and stories lined out. That leaves Romney. Not a first choice by any means but perhaps one of the few real Republicans left in the hunt.

SC Decides.

South Carolina chose John McCain. Hunter is out of the race and it looks like Thompson is on the ropes. Romney still leads the delegate count and so is comfortable for now. He needs to follow up Nevada with additional wins though. Huckabee appears to be in about the same boat. Interestingly, both lead McCain in delegates even after South Carolina. Florida is fast approaching with its winner take all primary. McCain is leading in the polls there and if he wins that could just break Rudi. Time will tell I suppose.

Voting in Charleston.

Well, South Carolina is in the process of conducting their Republican primary as I write. I am concerned to say the least. South Carolina has never really bothered me before because they are generally pretty conservative. It seems like this time though things are a bit different.

McCain has gained traction there that he never got in 2000 and Huckabee is riding high on a wave of evangelicals and homeschoolers who are emotionally tied to him. The true Reagan conservative (read: Fred Thompson) is fighting with Romney for third in the most recent polls. Fred does seem to be moving up though and I hope that even if he doesn't win he will stay in. Richard Land seems to think that evangelicals are waking up and taking another look at Huckabee and are switching to Thompson. This could account for some of the upward movement. Of course, if Fred can't afford to stay in then all the second looks at Huck could be for naught. Evangelicals and homeschoolers could find themselves out in the cold when they realize that Huckabee is not a conservative and could lay some very dangerous groundwork if elected.

As one who considers himself to be an evangelical and was homeschooled from second grade through highschool I find the Huckabee movement to be somewhat confusing. Sure the man is pro-life and pro-homeschool. I'll also give him his profession of faith and classify him as sincere and well-meaning. All that makes his misunderstanding of the U.S. Constitution, big government views, and lack of straight talk even more concerning. Sure he means well. Equally sure is that he will grow the government and make it even more intrusive than it already is. Ok, so he is a good man of faith. Who will take over from him and how will they use the machinery that he has put into place?

Romney on the rebound.

Well, Mitt Romney won Michigan and Wyoming. That puts him back in the running and actually gives him more delegates at this point than either Huckabee or McCain. Boy am I glad to see Romney win one. He is really my second choice but neither Huckabee nor McCain are my first. I was fearing that they would be able to knock him out of the race without ever facing him in a true GOP primary. That would have been bothersome and might have destroyed the party.

With a possible recession looming I really don't think we need the liberal fiscal policies of Mike Huckabee. I don't doubt that he is a good man and means well but he is not a conservative on fiscal matters. He is a populist. If folks would just look at what he is saying and advocating I think the conservatives who are supporting him would have to jump ship. Sadly the Republicans seem to be following the Democrats by judging a candidate solely on his personality and likability rather than by the whole package.

Of course McCain isn't a conservative and doesn't really claim to be. He wins by drawing in the moderates, Dems, and Independents. That will end when he gets into the closed primary states. Hopefully his chances at the nomination will end there as well.

I have several questions and concerns about Romney but none to the level of McCain or Huckabee. While I wouldn't just go wild about him he is the one of the three who have won to this point that I feel most comfortable with.

Giving it a second try.

Been a long while since I posted. Got to thinking and decided that I should give the blog thing another try. Not that I have much interesting to say, just think it would be a good exercise. I don't really make New Year's resolutions but if I did this would be one. Hopefully I can stick with it and come up with something interesting to post.