Ironduke

Dear Members,

This is the last Republican candidate poll before the election. On Tuesday, February 5th, two dozen states will hold primaries and caucuses to vote for a candidate for the Republican nomination.

Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson have dropped out of the race since the last poll, with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsing Senator John McCain.

At the moment, John McCain is the national frontrunner, having won the Florida primary on Tuesday, January 29th, as well as New Hampshire and Iowa. He is followed in the polls by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who has won the states of Michigan and Nevada.

Who do you now support, and why? Who do you think is the strongest candidate to run against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in November? What do you believe are the most important qualities and traits for the Republican nominee?

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The Buck Stops Here

Zaphod2016

I am pro-free market, pro-liberty, and anti-war. For me, the choice is clear. Ron Paul is the candidate for me. See y'all at the convention fight.

Guardian

If you're a Republican you'll share my disdain for the crop of presidential nominees for 2008. No one truly sticks out as a front runner. For a few weeks I entertained the notion that Mike Huckabee might be a good leader who lacks foreign policy understanding. Then I considered Romney and thought that his business skills and expertise could really get things done; but his big wallet and campaign spending are suspect to my judgement. I don't want another American elite to become President.

So on to McCain...

I respect McCain, his long years of service in Washington, his sacrifice for my country, and his projection of integrity. But I never considered him a favorite. The Republican party needs to move on from old men and extremely rich men if it wants to evolve with the times.

But here is my concession.

I don't want Hillary. I could handle Obama. He and I do not see eye to eye on many spending issues (almost all), but I respect his natural sense of leadership. But I do not want Hillary.

It seems that many names and big shots are giving their endorsement to McCain. The movers and shakers of America have apparently decided that the Right's time of indecision is over and a front runner must be picked. McCain is being handed momentum on a plate and things are going to go his way.

I'm not sure if my vote will go Republican or Libertarian in 2008. I like Ron Paul, but of course I know that, save a miracle, he has no shot of winning the Republican nomination or the presidency with the Libertarian party. If I must vote Republican it will be to stop Hillary, not to support McCain.

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The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
-Thomas Carlyle

ShawnG

But when Obama speaks, he reminds me of the guy who does the Popeil Pasta Maker Infomercials on late night TV.

And while I'm hungry for Spaghetti right now, I won't be voting for Obama.

I support McCain.

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pwalke1

Where is Newt when we need him........

JAD_333

Still for McCain. He's old, but if he picks a younger, capable running mate, his age won't be much of a factor. Hell, I am almost his age and fully active. So, I know the age issue depends on the person; it's not a given that age is a drawback. What I like about him after experience is his independent mindedness. As a Repubican, he still scores high in his GOP Senate voting tally to suit me. There's too much "them and us" in politics. There has to be some bipartisanship to solve problems. He isn't afraid to cross the asile to get things done. His campaign finance easure wasn't the best, but he's right that campaign financing needs cleaning up. He knows how Congress operates, and I expect he would push hard to solve our most serious problems rather than spin his wheels in confrontational politics. I think he's prepared take risks to solve problems like Social Security. Medicare, immigration and so forth. And he's right on Iraq... We don't need Romney in the Oval Office to deal with the economy. McCain can tap plenty of talent for that. Huckabee is smart, but just another candidate wearing his religion on his sleeve. Who is left? Paul? Some of his ideas have teeth, but
he peronally doesn't have the right stuff. We have to be careful not to elect only a message; ii has to come with an able leader.

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BadKharma

Looks like the majority is for McCain. although I vote Republican McCain wasnt my first choice although out of who is left I support him.

skier842

If we didn't protest the Vietnam War John McCain would still be a POW, he seems to have forgotten that!

JAD_333

At least this Republican doesn't agree. I think it was a pretty good crop of candidates without exception. They each brought a different viewpoint to the campaign which gave the voters diversity.

Maybe you're comparing them to greats among past GOP presidents. I've done that before. But I realized, great presidents don't come to office already great. Lincoln, TR, and Reagan achieved greatness in office. So, the question really is, who among the current bunch is potentially great. I look
for qualities like the strength of conviction and the ability to stay steady in the face of heavy opposition. Lincoln and Reagan stand out in that regard. I think McCain, Thompson and Huckabee have both qualities. Thompson is gone. Huckabee isn't likely to be around much after Super Tuesday. That leaves McCain unless Romney surprises. Romney will still go the distance as long as he has a numerical possibility. Who knows, he may end up as McCain's running mate, not a bad ticket considering McCain's age.

Right, but a charismatic leader; incisive; well spoken, but too openly religious.

Agree. He used his business skills to package himself. He'll be a force in the future.

Old in some eyes, yes. Rich? Definately not.

I don't want her because her husband is Bill Clinton first and because she is a dem second. Take those away and she has some strengths: articulate, tough, clear thinking, Republican upbringing (listen to her speaking pattern--few 'ahs' and no verbal mangling). But she could put a hurt on our pocketbooks if she succeeds in establishing national health care and all her other ideas-of-the-week. Between her and Obama, she'd be less likely to abandon Iraq on a fast track. But abandon it she will to reward her supporters.

I don't see the leadership at all. I see a well-spoken orator with some compelling ideas about coming together. That'll always make a liberal heart warm. But I see smugness (fippant comebacks duing the debates) and a touch of impractical idealism in him, especially in the foreign policy area. Call it youth. But I give him an A+ for showing the country and especially the black community that a black has to run as an American first.


That's a bit cyncal. There's more to those endorsements than that. It's down to Romney and McCain now, and of the two, leading politicians like Crist and Schwarzenegger see McCain as a doer and a more able leader than Romney. People at the top of the party don't say it, but they find the way Romney remade himself for the race and all the personal money he spent on his campaign distasteful. Those 2 factors would be key openings for
attack by the dems to avoid issues, whereas how do you attack a former POW who strives hard to solve problems. With McCain, it has to be a debate on experience and issues which would be hard for Hillary and harder still for Obama.

Do you mean you like the Libertarian message? I ask because Paul is not at all national leadership material. If he stuck to his message as President, we'd have 4 years of inertia and more Congressional overrides than at any time in our history. That's why he's at 10% and will not go any higher. If you like him, I think you should vote for him...send your message.

Fair enough.

Ironduke

Never going to happen... not only does McCain absolutely hate the man on a personal level, I think there's far candidates to pick. I would prefer someone somewhat Southern with executive experience, McCain being the Western/Midwestern guy.
Actually, McCain and his wife have a net worth of $28-32 million.
I remain unconvinced that business skills would make him any better on economic issues than the others. There is overlap between economics and business, but they are rather different fields and Romney conflates them.

lwarmonger

McCain is old... that is what hurt Bob Dole (they made the election about his age rather than anything else) and McCain is going to have to work hard to make sure it doesn't become a central issue of this election. I think that as long as he picks a strong running mate, his age is pretty unimportant.

T_igger_cs_30

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lwarmonger

Because it is where such a large quantity of delegates for both parties are assigned. This is the largest "super tuesday" election since 1988 (and it is more important than that one because a more diverse set of states are having their elections).

T_igger_cs_30

dalem

I'm of the same opinion as before. I like Romney, I'll tolerate McCain.

I think Romney is presidential, intelligent, and talks a good game of wanting to further conservatism in this country.

I think McCain is a lying douchebottle unsuited for executive office, but he's better than Hillary or Obama.

-dale