Well it is now time to talk about our Republican candidates. It pretty much has come down to John McCain, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Huckabee. New Hampshire primary has just completed, and it looks as though Mr. McCain has taken it for the Republican side.
John McCain has definitely great strength in the areas of his patriotic stance. His history as a military man, former POW, and Senate experience on the Senate Armed Services Committee have served him well in the eyes of all conservatives with that military focus. His weakness from most conservative perspectives is his support of campaign finance reform, his immigration stance, and his weakness in the area of not voting for the Bush Tax Cuts. By the way, he just won the New Hampshire Primary.
Mitt Romney is a former Governor of Massachusetts. Many believed this could help his cause in the Northeast. His strengths have been a good record of fiscal conservatism, executive experience as Governor, and strong against immigration. His weakness has been past “flip flops” on abortion, taxes, etc. He is a very competent business man, negotiator, and a politician. He is often perceived as “slick” as a speaker. This has hurt him in many instances. He has also ran many negative campaign ads to date which many look unfavorably upon.
Mike Huckabee is former Governor of Arkansas. His name is obviously the first thing people notice about him. As a former Baptist preacher, he has good speaking abilities that the average watcher can relate to. He has been accused of being a populist by focusing on the messages that most appeal to the masses instead of digging into the details of policy and immigration. He is the only Republican candidate which has proposed a completely new tax idea with his fair tax, doing away with the IRS, and going to a tax on consumption. Huckabee is identified as Christian conservative, extremely pro-life, but weak on history of crime & punishment, as well as taxes as Governor.
Fred Thompson is a former Senator from Tennessee. He is laid back, not a particular eloquent speaker, and has yet to convince many that he really wants to be President. He is a proponent of Federalism and is strong in all the major components a conservative would look for. His real weakness is his presentation and communication style up to this point. It will be interesting to see how he fairs as the race turns to the southern state primaries.
Rudy Giuliani is former Mayor of New York City. He is most noted for his dealing with 9/11. His strengths are his perception of great leadership, his success with New York City on crime and taxes. He has taken an approach of focusing in on Super Tuesday Primaries. His performance in the initial primaries has been nonexistent and could prove to be challenging to truly win the nomination. His weakness is social liberal policies in the past, his historical lady problems, and his nomination of key city officials which turned out to be corrupt.
Who will get this nomination? No one knows. Right now, an average of the national polls shows Mike Huckabee leading by 1.3%. I look for this to quite possibly change in the near future. I hope you have fun reading and learning about all your candidates, for knowledge is power.
Beliefs – Stand Up for Them or Suck.It.Up.
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