GOP 2012

The race to run against Barack Obama is heating up in the Republican Party. Here is my take on the field.

The most important issue is going to be the economy. There are other issues like gay marriage and illegal immigration. We are still fighting a war in the middle east. But the election will be won or lost depending on whether the American people believe Obama or the Republican nominee will be better at getting us out of this poor economic situation.

If I were going to pick a candidate who I think would embody what I want in a president it would be Mike Huckabee. Without a doubt I would cast my vote for him as I agree with virtually everything he stands for, however, he is not running.

If Sarah Palin decides to run I don't think she could win nor would I want her to be president. That has nothing to do with her as a person or her ideals. The media has harrassed her since the first day she was on the national scene, and she stumbles way too much to be in the position of leadership that is the President of the United States. Michele Bachmann would be a better female candidate, but she is too conservative to be elected president. I like her politics, but I don't think she could win.

Ron Paul is basically a libertarian and really stands no chance other than to stir the pot...same for Donald Trump. I think Hermain Cain is a really good candidate, and it could be good to have a black Republican running to sway some of the black voters, but I'm not so sure he has much of a chance at this point...but I really like him and I would vote for him.

That leaves three candidates left that I believe have a chance to win the nomination: Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, and Mitt Romney. To rank them in order of the best chance to beat Obama: 1. Romney 2. Pawlenty 3. Gingrich. To rank them in order of who I think would do the best job as president: 1. Gingrich 2. Pawlenty 3. Romney.

If the #1 issue is the economy then Gingich is our man. He has a record of restoring order to the budget and I feel very confident that he would be able to dig us out of this hole. But it's a catch-22 because do I want Gingrich running against Obama - maybe not. He has a tendency to offend people and I don't know that he could capture the swing vote. I think Romney could. And while who really knows Romney's social policies, I know he is a fiscal conservative and I'll take that over what we have now. I think Pawlenty could win but maybe only with Romney as his VP. The ideal ticket for me right now would be Gingrich/Cain in '12.

JB