Thompson's gone, now what?

[The Rabbi]

So what is a Reagan Republican like myself going to do in this election? The choices range from poor to nauseating. I will gnaw off my right hand rather than vote for either Giuliani or Romney. With a .375 Ruger pointed at my head I might vote for McCain, at least if the Dems run either Hillary or Obama. But it isn't something I would tell my grandchildren about. I am not going to give the Paulistas any satisfaction by voting for their guy.

Is this really the best the GOP can come up with?

Where are the leaders of the '96 victory?

I see plenty of promising people down the road. I think I might like Haley Barbour. Or Bobby Jindal.

Can we draft someone at the convention?

[Guest bkelm18]

I find it humorous that anybody who plans on voting for Paul is instantly branded a nutjob.

[Daniel]

i would probably vote for paul if he ever got the nomination although that is not going to happen.

[Guest David Waldrip]

Yes, this is the best the Repub's can do.

Each person that I talk to says the same thing in that the person could vote for candidate A or B, but they absolutely will not vote for candidate C. Same identical phrase, just the names change.

The point is that there is a percentage of Republican voters that will stay home on election day, no matter who the candidate is.

It will be a wild campaign, coming right down to who can get out the vote.

[Builder Bob]

Rabbi, I agree that the conservative republican party is now in a pickle for choosing a candidate. It is a shame that what we have left is the best there is to offer out there.

Builder Bob

[Guest ACMM]

There is only ONE candidate left in the race that supports the second amendment, period.

[Marswolf]

Yeah, I'm not doing early voting because I don't know anyone I'd want to vote for that is running. Maybe by Super Tuesday, I'll figure something out.

[Bigiron]

Totally agree with Rabbi. Repubs are in trouble. Really hate that Fred waited so long to enter the race, and now is out. Will not vote for any of the liberals. Haley Barbour would prolly be good. Jindal shows promise, time will tell. If what is running is the best our country has to offer, then we are in deep doo-doo.

[The Rabbi]

There is only ONE candidate left in the race that supports the second amendment, period.

Yes, I assume you mean the guy from TX. Unfortunately I cannot support someone with a foreign policy view I find eccentric, unrealistic, and, based on my family's history, downright offensive.

And if he had a sensible foreign policy he would probably be a shoo-in.

[Cannon Fodder]

I have one thing to say, we're ****ed.

[Guest ACMM]

Yes, I assume you mean the guy from TX. Unfortunately I cannot support someone with a foreign policy view I find eccentric, unrealistic, and, based on my family's history, downright offensive.

And if he had a sensible foreign policy he would probably be a shoo-in.

Yep, he's the only one that supports the 2A.

He's the only one left that's not a fascist/socialist.

Ronald Reagan liked him OK, RP ran Reagan's TX campaign.

"Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country." Ronald Reagan

So don't say he's weak on defense.

You don't have to agree with his foreign policy, but it's the policy of the founders of this country. We were not founded on the idea of building empire or using our military for private interests. In addition we can't afford it, we have two choices, a vote for Iraq or a vote for the U.S. If we stay in Iraq our economy will collapse. Paul Craig Roberts, Reagan's Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and the father of Reaganomics, says we're on the brink of total economic collapse because Bush has bankrupted us with over printing of dollars, over borrowing from the Chinese and overspending on other government entitlement BS.

I think if you find RP offensive you're projecting the views of some of his supporters on him as opposed to his actual views. However, there are lots of people with all kinds of different views that support a guy that supports their right to be wrong about stuff.

[The Rabbi]

You don't have to agree with his foreign policy, but it's the policy of the founders of this country. We were not founded on the idea of building empire or using our military for private interests. In addition we can't afford it, we have two choices, a vote for Iraq or a vote for the U.S. If we stay in Iraq our economy will collapse. Paul Craig Roberts, Reagan's Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and the father of Reaganomics, says we're on the brink of total economic collapse because Bush has bankrupted us with over printing of dollars, over borrowing from the Chinese and overspending on other government entitlement BS.

Yup, about what I expect from RP. Overblown rhetoric combined with myopia with an admixture of logical fallacy.

You have to wonder about a candidate who garners so much support from the lunatic fringe of the American right. I'm certainly not marching in any parade with those guys.

[Guest ACMM]

You have to wonder how anyone that purports to believe in rugged individualism re:Reagan, thinks we're currently on the right track.

[mousegunner]

Gentlemen and Ladies,

I voted for Ron Paul already in TN, because he does support the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution. I know that he won't win the GOP nomination.

It is time to vote for a third party in the general election. If you vote for a Republican as the lesser of two evils, then the GOP will continue to slide left. It's time for America to let the GOP know that it has gone too far. The Democrats will take the Presidency, and the GOP will realize it must get back to basics or disappear into oblivion.

[Guest bkelm18]

Gentlemen and Ladies,

I voted for Ron Paul already in TN, because he does support the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution. I know that he won't win the GOP nomination.

It is time to vote for a third party in the general election. If you vote for a Republican as the lesser of two evils, then the GOP will continue to slide left. It's time for America to let the GOP know that it has gone too far. The Democrats will take the Presidency, and the GOP will realize it must get back to basics or disappear into oblivion.

As much as it pains me to acknowledge the dems are going to win, they will, and I do agree with you that it's time to vote 3rd Party.

[Rightwinger]

Lets create the 4th party!

TAKE 8 !

Lets take the next 8 years off from government change!

No new government. NONE, take 8!

Get the mission done in Iraq and bring em home, all budgetary commitments currently tagged for Iraq but no longer needed at the end of the mission (when ever that is) are rolled into debt pay off!

Take 8 years off, no elections (cost savings), no new taxes (you know where your at for 8 years), no change!

Take 8, and give me a break!

[DavidD]

With quotes like:

So what is a Reagan Republican like myself going to do in this election? The choices range from poor to nauseating. I will gnaw off my right hand rather than vote for either Giuliani or Romney. With a .375 Ruger pointed at my head I might vote for McCain, at least if the Dems run either Hillary or Obama. But it isn't something I would tell my grandchildren about......Is this really the best the GOP can come up with?Where are the leaders of the '96 victory?Can we draft someone at the convention?

AND

I know that he (Ron Paul) won't win the GOP nomination.

AND

As much as it pains me to acknowledge the dems are going to win, they will, and I do agree with you that it's time to vote 3rd Party.

Which I totally agree with all three 100%, would it not be an unsually strategic move for republicans to abstain from voting in the Republican primaries, vote for Edwards, or possibly Obama in the Democratic Primaries all just to keep Hilary out? Not that this would happen, but wouldn't it send a message? Of course when it comes time for the election, vote republican, not that it will really matter. Oh well, just an idea in the realms of fantasy.... I better go contact the suicide help hotline now that I have had such thoughts and actually put them in print.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

Wow...from all this talk, I'm beginning to think that the repub party is really in some serious trouble...fudge...now I'll have to find the proper boxes to stash my guns and bury them when the time comes when a democrat takes over and implements a ban on guns b/c I'll tell you one thing...they may ban guns but they sure as heck arent getting my guns!!!

[saintsfanbrian]

Okay, Ron Paul would be a viable candidate if America had more than a 2 party system. Sure, they are out there and they run in almost every election but they are not a real factor.

Reagan would not like at all what the "Republican" party is becoming. After all, he spoke about how a party CANNOT be ALL things to ALL people. That the party had to have clearly defined ideas and needed to stick to those.

Now, as for the next election, I don't know who I will vote for, but I know either way it is going to be bad for the country. We cannot continue on this downward spiral of appeasing every special interest group that comes along at some point in time we have to say enough is enough....stop your complaining and get over yourself. Unfortunately it will probably take another GLOBAL war or another depression to get people to realize that they have to get along before they can go along.

A depression would show the government that the individual DOES have a need to own firearms because there will be people out there trying even harder to take what they need instead of working for it. Granted jobs will be scarce. This is where having skills will come in handy.

Rant Off.

[mousegunner]

Fortunately there is good news: Our Constitution has built in checks and balances: Legislative, Executive, Judicial. The country will survive a Democrat President. True, the Congress is majority Demo, but they may not always agree with the Pres. And the Supreme Court is now at least neutral, and maybe Conservative. So, we may see quite a bit of gridlock after the Nov election. And four years is not really a long time in the life of a nation. So CHEER UP EVERYBODY!

[The Rabbi]

You have to wonder how anyone that purports to believe in rugged individualism re:Reagan, thinks we're currently on the right track.

If I had written we were on the right track you might be right. But I didnt. And we're not.

But all the overblown "we're all gonna die" rhetoric is just that. For those of us old enough to remember the mid to late 1970s, this is nothing. In those days we would have wished we could have it this good. Inflation is still low, unemployment is still historically low, the US remains the sole superpower. No, things are good right now.

But there is plenty of danger out there. Unrestrained gov't spending and regulation is one. A Fed determined to prop up the economy by cutting rates is another. Islamic radicals lining up enemies is another.

The GOP has not produced a candidate who will address these issues in a realistic way. The Democrats don't even aknowledge these are problems. This is the issue.

[Guest Spuds]

This election cycle finds me with a severe case of electile dysfunction.

Voting in the opposition's primary is the only thing that seems to make sense to me. Obama or Edwards, Edwards or Obama . . . . . . even though I know the reasoning behind it, I'm not sure I can poke the button for either of these clowns.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

This election cycle finds me with a severe case of electile dysfunction.

Voting in the opposition's primary is the only thing that seems to make sense to me. Obama or Edwards, Edwards or Obama . . . . . . even though I know the reasoning behind it, I'm not sure I can poke the button for either of these clowns.

Or you can just not vote....save us the headache of democrats polls going higher....

[The Rabbi]

This election cycle finds me with a severe case of electile dysfunction.

Voting in the opposition's primary is the only thing that seems to make sense to me. Obama or Edwards, Edwards or Obama . . . . . . even though I know the reasoning behind it, I'm not sure I can poke the button for either of these clowns.

My problem with that is that one of these clowns is worse than the next. I could actually have voted for Richardson. He was a serious candidate, regardless of his views. But in the current democratic party he didnt have enough left-wing flare to succeed. I could not pick the best of Hillary, Obama, or Edwards. Any of them make me break out in cold sweats.

[DavidD]

I could not pick the best of Hillary, Obama, or Edwards. Any of them make me break out in cold sweats.

I feel your pain, but can you pick the worst 2 of the 3?