ProudConservative.com - The Blog Portion

I keep getting emails and messages asking me what I think about the current crop of Republican Presidential candidates. I am not endorsing anyone and not throwing my support behind anyone yet. What I can do here is give you my impressions of the candidates as of right now. This is not, by any means, my final thought on any of these candidates. I am open to most of them. This is simply my view of them as of today, May 16th, 2007. I have watched both of the debates and caught several of them on various programs. My impression of them is subject to change either to the positive or to the negative. I know I will hear from the supporters of each of these candidates and I welcome any feedback. However, please keep it civil. I get enough idiotic emails from the libs.

So here goes:

John McCain: I have respect for John McCain’s service in Vietnam. I believe he is sincere in his beliefs and doesn’t try to spin the majority of his views for political gain. However, I think he was completely wrong on McCain/Feingold. I think his plans for immigration are amnesty even though he fervently denies that. I think he tries to reach across the aisle and compromise too easily with the Democrats. I personally disagree with him on the use of interrogation tactics. The terrorists do not care what tactics we use and don’t use. They will use whatever tactics they want if they capture our people. Remember all of the beheadings? So while in normal warfare, I would tend to agree more with his position, the war on terror is not normal warfare. I believe John McCain is a good man and I would prefer him over any of the Democrats, but I will not vote for him in the primaries.

Mitt Romney: As one of the people who run a forum I belong to says, “He looks and sounds like a T.V. anchorman.” He looks Presidential. He sounds Presidential. But so did Bill Clinton. Now, I’m not saying Mitt’s politics are that of Bill Clinton. I am saying his style is. I like many of the things Mitt Romney says, but if you check his record against what he is saying, very often the two don’t match up. He enacted some good legislation as well as some bad legislation in Massachusetts. He announced he supports a ban on assault weapons. There has been a lot of talk about his religion and honestly I don’t think that will or should have any effect on the primaries. I would prefer Mitt Romney over any of the Democrats, but I will not vote for him in the primaries.

Rudy Giuliani: I lived in NYC when Rudy was elected. I voted for him. The change he brought to the city from years and years of decay and neglect was amazing. He literally changed the whole atmosphere of the city. The city before Rudy and after Rudy are night and day. He has amazing leadership skills. He is not afraid to take on his critics. However, he has serious social issue problems. The truth is though, a President can not affect the abortion issue much other than by the judges he Nominates. He has said he would nominate judges similar to Scalia and Roberts. He makes me nervous with his gun control thoughts. I would like to hear more from him on this issue. I would like to hear exactly what his thoughts on gay rights are. I will give him credit for at least being honest about his pro-choice stance rather than trying to flip-flop and then spin. Rudy is not my top choice and I don’t plan on voting for him in the primary. If he wins the nomination, I would not have a problem voting for him over any of the Democrats.

Ron Paul: Not only should he not win the nomination for President, but he should not be re-elected in Texas next time he is up.

Mike Huckabee: He is now on my radar. I have to do more research on him to be honest. Last night, I watched the debate twice. I realized the second time around that many of the things that I liked hearing were said by Mike Huckabee. He is also the only candidate that talked about eliminating the IRS and replacing it with the Fair Tax. Does he have the name recognition? Probably not yet, but there is a lot of time. He seems very comfortable wearing the conservative title….proudly. I will be looking more into his record, but I think he has potential.

Tommy Thompson: I think he has a decent record. I like the fact that he used his veto power as many times as he did when he was Governor. I like that he cut taxes as many times as he did. He looks nervous in the debates and on other programs. I’m not sure that he is ready for this race, but that can change. Once again, I will have to do more research on his record as well. Being completely honest though, he will need to energize voters more and he doesn’t seem to have that charisma. Say what you want, but the simple fact is that these days, a candidate needs a certain amount of charisma. I am open to hearing more of what he has to say, but he is not my top pick right now. Of course, he would be better than any of the Democrats.

Sam Brownback: Once again, I will be honest. I will have to do more research on him as well. I just don’t think he’s ready yet though. He is one of the candidates, I like some of his views a lot and then others….well not so much. He seems to be a decent man, but once again, he just doesn’t have that “excitement” in his campaign yet. I am open to hear more from him, but I don’t expect him to remain in the race much longer.

Duncan Hunter: He seems to be strong in many of his views. His trade policy concerns me a little and I would like to hear him expand on his views. His views on immigration are right on. He appears to be strong on the issue of the war on terror. He also appears to wear the conservative title….proudly. From what I’ve seen and heard, he is right on the social issues of the day. Again, he needs to work on the name recognition as well as the charisma thing a little. But on the issues, he is on the conservative side of most of them. I am open to voting for him in the primary.

Jim Gilmore: He is another candidate I will have to look more deeply into. Truth is though, I don’t expect him to remain in the race for very long. He is on the right side of most issues and I respect that. But he just isn’t generating much excitement. Depending on who was left in the race, I might consider him in the primary, but I just don’t think he’ll be there by the time my primary rolls around. Maybe this isn’t fair, but who ever said politics was fair?

Tom Tancredo: He is strong on the illegal immigration issue. He is passionate about it. I would like to see him focus some more attention on other issues as well though. I’m not saying he hasn’t spoken on other issues….he has. But he doesn’t have the same passion when discussing other topics. I want a candidate who is passionate about all conservative ideals. I am open to him, but I believe there are others in front of him as of now.

There are a few potential candidates as well:

Newt Gingrich: He was the candidate I was most excited about before the whole election season began. I believe him to be a very intelligent man. He has a great grasp on history which I think would be a tremendous asset to a President. He has a proven conservative track record. He is Presidential in my view. I am however, slightly concerned that the 2007 Newt is not the same person as the 1994 Newt. If he gets in the race, maybe he can assuage my concern. I would definitely consider voting for him in the primary.

Fred Thompson: He also has a proven conservative track record. He is generating such a buzz in conservative circles and I think that is missing in some of the other campaigns. He is another straight shooter kind of guy. He wears the Conservative title….proudly. I would like to hear more detailed views on his views of current issues. I would consider voting for him as well in the primary.

Chuck Hagel: Uh yeah…..I don’t think so. He’s another one that I believe shouldn’t even be elected to his current office, never mind the Presidency.

So that’s it. As of today, these are my thoughts. I did not go into much detail of any of the candidate’s views on issues. You can go to their respective website for specifics. I am telling you my overall impression of the candidates. As I said, my impressions are subject to change as more information becomes available.

The one thing I can say, is that with the exception of Chuck Hagel and Ron Paul, I could vote for any of the candidates very easily over any of the Democrats running. Would I vote for Hillary over Ron Paul or Chuck Hagel? That scenario will never happen so I don’t have to worry about answering that question!