From my email,

John,

If at some point soon you determine that Fred doesn't have a shot to win the nomination, would you put your support behind another candidate? If so, who? I would have guessed Huckabee until yesterday when you made those "reminds you of Jimmy Carter" comments. Also, as a Christian I support Thompson because I feel he's the most conservative candidate, but so many other Christians that I know support Huckabee...probably just because he's a former preacher. Is this a big mistake or a problem for the GOP?

Aaron Braun-Duin

Here's how it breaks down for me.

The candidate I like the best is my former employer, Duncan Hunter. However, he's not doing so well at the polls. After him, I'm a Fred Thompson fan.

Why?

Because Thompson has the requisite charisma to win the nomination and beat Hillary, is a fiscal conservative, favors small government, is tough on illegal immigration, and is pro-life. He's also the only candidate in the top tier who I believe can rally conservatives to vote for him as opposed to simply voting against Hillary and we desperately need someone like that in 2008.

Once you get past Thompson, there's an enormous gulf between him and the other 4 contenders.

Out of the top tier contenders, over time, the guy I have really gotten down on is Giuliani. I don't think he's anywhere near as electable as people think, he's pro-abortion, he's not serious about dealing with illegal immigration, he's not a conservative, and he is way too sleazy to be representing the Republican Party.

So him, I really, really, don't want.

After Giuliani, it's essentially a toss-up for me between the other three top contenders. That's not to say that they're all alike, because they're not, but all of them have big drawbacks that keep me from being able to really strongly support them.

McCain is a fiscal conservative, he seems serious about winning the war on terror, and he's currently polling better against Hillary than any of the other candidates, but he's also a little too long in the tooth to be running for President, he will screw us over on illegal immigration, and he has made a career out of selling conservatives down the river for the amusement of the mainstream media.

Mitt Romney has charisma, a pretty decent resume, and he talks a good game about conservative issues, but I think he's one of these politicians who tells people whatever they want to hear to get elected. Also, his head-to-head polling numbers against Hillary and national numbers in the GOP primaries are really anemic, especially given all the positive press he has gotten over the last six months. That makes me think that he can't win a general election.

Huckabee has a great socially conservative resume and so much charisma that I think he'd probably be able to beat Hillary in a national election. However, he probably wouldn't make conservatives happy on illegal immigration or fiscal conservative issues. In other words, Huckabee strikes me as George Bush with charisma on domestic issues. That's not very appealing.

With that in mind, I really don't have a 3rd choice after Thompson and Hunter. If neither of them can pull it off, I'm just planning to shrug my shoulders and resign myself to whoever manages to pull it off -- as long as it's not Giuliani. If it comes down to a two person race between Giuliani and another candidate in the primary, I'm supporting the other candidate.

Granted, that may not be the ideal, but such is life. Sometimes you don't get what you want and you just have to make the best of a bad situation -- oh and personally, I wouldn't have the slightest qualms about supporting any of those candidates, including Giuliani, over Hillary Clinton.

PS: Thompson is still in the race and if he can pull off a victory in South Carolina, where he has been in the top slot in a recent poll, he has an excellent chance to win the nomination.