As we hit the beginning of the Presidential primary season here is my review of the Republican contenders.

Mitt Romney – Right now Mitt Romney is my pick for the Republican nominee.  As a business man he is a talented leader and has a good sense of fiscal responsibility.  He does not have a extensive foreign policy background but seems to be firm on the war on terror and is smart enough to recruit experts.  His position on the border and immigration is solid.  On social issues he is as conservative as they come.  I don’t consider his change on abortion as flip-flopping rather more of an evolution.  Flip-flopping to me entails that the position changes all the time depending upon who he is speaking to.  More importantly is that Romney would pick conservative judges which will be critical the next 4 years.

Rudy Giuliani – Rudy is my second place pick.  I don’t agree with him on his social issues but can live with it.  He will be tough on the war!  That is the most important fact.  He has sound fiscal policies and has come around on the border and immigration.  He claims to be a constructionist in regards to the constitution so we have to take him at his word that judicial nominees will be alright.

Mike Huckabee – I just can’t get behind Huckabee.  He is for sure the most social conservative in the field but is all over the board everywhere else.  His fiscal policies will hurt the economy, He does not seem to grasp foreign policy at all and his stance on the border and immigration is very weak.  He reminds me of a combination of the last 2 southern governors (Carter and Clinton).  He is more of a populist and will say and do things to be popular instead of being tough when needed.

John McCain – McCain has burned way to many bridges to ever get back to the Republican base.  McCain-Feingold campaign reform, the gang of 12 that derailed getting judges appointed, McCain-Kennedy immigration reform the list goes on where McCain has went against what the conservative base wanted and he never seems to care or apologize that he took the wrong road.  His only redeeming feature is that he would support the War but beyond that it is a toss-up which side of an issue he would be on.  I take that back, I am pretty sure that besides the war he would be on the opposite side of the conservative base.

Fred Thompson – I thought last spring when rumor of Thompson entering the race began that he would be the candidate that we were waiting for.  However, he has never generated the enthusiasm in himself.  He appears to be solid on most issues but hasn’t shown why he would be better than Mitt or Rudy at winning the Presidential race. 

Duncan Hunter – Hunter is probably the best conservative out there but has never been able to get the nationwide attention and backing that is needed to win.

Ron Paul – Although Paul has some very conservative principals sometimes he is just to far out there.  When he starts on conspiracy theories for 9/11 and the Iraq I just can’t take him serious.

It comes down to who can win in November.  I don’t think Huckabee has a chance with independent / non evangelical voters.  McCain can probably attract some independents and win if the base turns out and votes for him which is questionable (just look at 2006 election to understand what happens when you alienate the base).  It is hard to predict if Fred can get people behind him in the general election or not.  So it comes down to Rudy and Mitt.  With Rudy’s background it is hard to take the high road and appeal to family values although you know that Rudy will fight back hard against the left.  Mitt appears to have a clean background and strong character.  The only thing that a person can complain about is his religious faith.  That would be important if we were choosing a new pastor but I don’t see that it makes a difference for President of the United States.  Article 6 of the Constitution says that there will be no religious test for office so we either need to stand by the Constitution and elect the best person for the job or start arguing about which parts of the Constitution we want to follow.