Eeney Meeney Miney Moe

The 2008 General Election is still over ten months away, but the candidates have been clamoring for attention since last July. While both major parties are currently entertaining about eight candidates each, there are only a few front-runners. The Democratic front-runners are John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. On the right side of the aisle (directionally, not necessarily right in the moral sense) you have John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and Ron Paul. See, we’ve already narrowed the entire field by fifty percent.

You already know that I consider myself fairly Libertarian. I want the federal government reduced in scope and more power returned to the states. This is not too much to ask. After all, the original system was set up so that the government answered to the people, not the people answering to the government. Now, though, the federal government is so bloated and over-stretched that a collapse is not out of the questions.

Let’s take a look at the candidates for President, you know, the ones who think they can stop the bleeding. We’ll start the search by looking at each candidate individually, and just exactly how much I could consider voting for them:

John McCain. I have no moral quarrel (hey, good rhyme) about saying that I do not trust McCain. Something about the man just does not set right. I don’t know if it’s the horrid McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance reform act, or if it is the fact that the man looks more like a grocery store manager than a Senator. I have loads of respect for McCain, but I’d never vote for him. Likelihood of me voting for him: 2%.

John Edwards. The ambulance chaser himself, then again, what politician isn’t an ambulance chaser in some way. Edwards lost out on the vice presidency in the last election because his running mate was essentially a dressed up lapdog. Edwards tries to endear himself to the common voter by getting $2000 hair cuts and flying in private jets.
Again, not someone I could vote for. Likelihood of me voting for him: 0%.

Rudy Giuliani. As Robert said the other after watching the Republican candidate debate, about half way through any event he attends, Giuliani pulls out his 9/11 drum and begins beating it. We get it, Rudy. Find a new message. Likelihood of me voting for him: 5%.

Barack Obama. He’s got charisma, and youth, which equal big points with voters. Plus, he may actually change things. Still, he talks a lot about programs that would bring the country under a more socialist umbrella. But, he is the only Democrat that I’d vote for. Likelihood of me voting for him: 10%.

Hillary Clinton. I will march in the streets to keep her from reaching the White House. Nothing could be worse for the country than for this hardened Socialist to gain more political power. Hillary would socialize medicine, then expand the federal government almost to the point that individual freedoms ceased to exist. That’s bad, people. Likelihood of me voting for her: 0%

Ron Paul. Robert was telling me about watching this debate where all the mild-mannered Republican candidates were sitting around, mildly jabbing at each other, and right in the middle was Ron Paul in full tin-foil hat mode, yelling, “Oh my God! Run for your lives! The world is ending! Vote for me!” The problem is, I heard Paul speaking after the New Hampshire primary and he made a lot of sense. Phrases like “the Constitution was written for the sole purpose of restraining the federal government,” “the federal government should never impose on a state’s right to self-govern,” and a stern castigation of the Patriot Act really caught my attention. I could actually see punching a ballot for Ron Paul. Likelihood of me voting for him: 35%.

Mike Huckabee. There are moments where I support Huckabee, and moments where he frightens me. The ardent left (moveon.org, etc.) have fought vehemently against Huckabee because he is a Baptist minister, and they fear that his first step in the Presidency would be to evangelize the nation. Firstly, evangelizing the entire nation wouldn’t exactly be easy. Secondly, it is a sordid state of affairs when a man is more feared for what he does on Sunday than what he does on the other six days of the week.
Likelihood of me voting for him: 25%

Mitt Romney. The Mormon. Much has been made of his religious beliefs. Maybe I’m being hyper-critical since I do fall more into the conservative category, but it seems like more is made of a conservative’s religion than of a liberals. The last time a fuss was raised over a Democrat’s religion (other than Joe Lieberman) was JFK in 1960. Like all politicians, Romney has some good ideas and some really bad ideas. Likelihood of me voting for him: 5%.

So, mathematically, I’m still 18% undecided on where my vote will land. Not bad, considering I’ve got the primary season to get through still. The search will continue…