I was only making the point that most candidates lose funding with the first primaries lost. Paul clearly doesn't. For Paul, this is not necessarily about winning primaries but getting out the message. It's costly, but the supporters of the message have deemed it well worth it.
Just how worth it?
You know, many have no idea how deep things goes with this group.
Some are hardcore libertarians for whom Ron Paul is not libertarian enough.
For me, a Republican who voted that way all the way back to Nixon,
it goes back to before Ruby Ridge and Waco
and a jack booted government with it's foot on the
throat of the American people. Yet we still choose to battle
peacefully in the arena of ideas, and sometimes, as with Dr. Rand Paul,
the ballot box. Many here said Rand could never win in a Republican
primary against the establishment and party's chosen candidate.
The establishment's Chenyey/McConnell endorsed darling got blown away by
the good doctor. Most misunderstand because they think the object is Paul.
It is actually a message which Paul has happened to have been faithful to
for the forty plus years he has been in this. Ideas go on, the standard bearers
just pass on the mantle to the next one that is true to the message.

_________________
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." ~ Ronald Reagan


You say "Conspiracy Theorist"?? Call me Agenda Analyst.

The only Founding Fathers who became Presidents were those with extensive governmental experience.

George Washington served 15 years in the Virginia House of Burgesses, then he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, then head of the Army. Total experience in government before becoming President- 30 years.

Thomas Jefferson served six years in the Virginia House of Burgesses, then was a Delegate to the Continental Congress, then Governor of Virginia, then delegate again, then an ambassador, then Secretary of State, then Vice-President. Total experience in government before becoming President- 27 years.

John Adams served in the Massachusetts Assembly for five years, then represented his state in the Continental Congress for eight years, then was an ambassador for eight years, then vice President. Total experience in government before becoming President 25 years.

Obama was the least governmentally experienced President elected in the more than 100 years.

Cain has less.

P.S. Lincoln was elected to office four times before becoming President

P.S.S. Military service is governmental service.

_________________
"As for us, our days of combat are over. Our swords are rust. Our guns will thunder no more. The vultures that once wheeled over our heads must be buried with their prey. Whatever of glory must be won in the council or the closet, never again in the field. I do not repine. We have shared the incommunicable experience of war; we have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

There is virtually nothing you can do to reform the fed as Kansas City's chairman.
The only member bank with any power is the New York branch.
If he understood that, he would not have wasted his time there.

_________________
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism." ~ Ronald Reagan


You say "Conspiracy Theorist"?? Call me Agenda Analyst.

Let's see...

A man who grew up in the Jim Crow South and had to drink out of the "colored" fountain grows up and graduates with a degree in mathematics.

He becomes a Business Analyst at Coca Cola and works his way to becoming a VP.

He then heads to Pillsbury and they put him in charge of Godfather's Pizza, which is a failing franchise. He turns it around and makes it profitable.

He then buys Godfather's Pizza.

He debates President Clinton on healthcare on national TV and wins. Destroying Clinton's chances at getting his socialized medicine plan implemented.

He goes to Burger King where their stores in Philidelphia are losing money and performing badly. He trains by working in the stores. He takes the 350 stores and turns them from being one of the poorest performing regions to being the most profitable region.

He gets tons of calls from people around the country asking him to get into politics because he's a problem solver.

He works at the Fed and works to be chairman. He leaves after 4 yrs, believing that the system is not efficient. He ends up supporting the Fair Tax and the gold standard.

Yeah, I guess that's a record to laugh at, isn't it?

For what it's worth, here's where I'm at in a nutshell right now:

My heart says Cain or Santorum.

My head says T-Paw or Daniels.

Mike was the only candidate I could fully get behind with both my head and my heart.

No one else gets both.

And no one else (aside from those mentioned above) gets either my head or my heart.

_________________
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____________________________________________

What do you mean by "head"?

I try not to think about who is "electable" this early. Mainly because that's what people were saying about Huck last time.

If it's something other than electability, then feel free to pretend I said something else that was more pertinent.

Executive experience running a government/electability. By the way, I believed Huckabee was electable even when he was at 2% in the polls. He's the exception, though.

_________________
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It has been a while since I have posted here, but I find this thread worth posting. I have also been wondering who Mike will endorse as there is no true leader right now. I ageee with cschande in that I am also trying to find the candidate most like Mike in that I get behind with my heart and my head. Currently my head is also leading to Mitch Daniels

As many of you may remember, Mitch Daniels is a family friend and while I don't have any insight if he is running or not, I do know that many "advisers" have their eye on Herman Cain (including me - not that I am an advisor). I know that he has mentioned Condi Rice as a VP candidate and although she would be excellent, that would be too many Bush alumns in the race and an easy target for the Dems and Obama to attack. Although I do see issues with Mitch (ie the recent court ruling on search warrants, perceived lack of fire and presidential look) his plain speaking style might be what this country needs. By adding an outsider like Hermain Cain to his ticket, he can play the part that Biden tries to play as the junkyard dog. The benefit is that Cain actually knows what he is talking about and is not a mistake waiting to happen.

Currently Obama is gambling with our debt, gambling with our economy and more important gambling with our relations abroad. Because of this I would like to see this royal flush (I know I don't like the term royal) to clean out the house.

Pres - Mitch Daniels - small in statue but big in results
VP - Hermain Cain - Can really win the debate with Biden and would be a perfect pair with experience as a business owner and a fed chairman
Sec of State - John Huntsman - has ties with Asia as our Ambassador of two countries and knows how the government works after being Governor
Sec of Defense - Duncan Hunter - without a doubt a man that will bring order and honor back to this position.
Sec of Treasury - Michelle Bachman - First women to hold that positions and as a former IRS attorney and business owner, what better way to make sure we clean house. Heck we all know the women controls the check book at home anyways.

You could also see President Daniels appointing his buddy Haley Barbour to something in the administration. Chief of Staff sounds like it'd be a fit for Barbour, but that might be too much of a fall from governor.

_________________
THE TIMES are nightfall, look, their light grows less;
The times are winter, watch, a world undone:
They waste, they wither worse; they as they run
Or bring more or more blazon man’s distress.
And I not help. Nor word now of success:
All is from wreck, here, there, to rescue one—
Work which to see scarce so much as begun
Makes welcome death, does dear forgetfulness.
Or what is else? There is your world within.
There rid the dragons, root out there the sin.
Your will is law in that small commonweal…
G.M. Hopkins.

Exactly how I'm feeling right now. Though I'm waiting to hear more from Michelle B. We'll see.

_________________
"I didn't major in math, but I did major in miracles"

http://www.facebook.com/rockhill

I see Haley making an appearance, but not necessary as the chief of staff. I would love to see this position filled by JC Watts. He has Washington experience and would be an excellent person to lead the agends for the next four years.

Ditto

My heart right now says Paul or Cain.

My head says Pawlenty.

I've added Daniels to the list of candidates that I could not support, along with Johnson and Romney.

Daniels seems like a squishy moderate to me. He has gone along with conservatives in the Indiana legislature sure, but that's not enough for me. He reminds me of a McCain type of Republican. Also, the establishment is lining up behind him, which sends me going the other direction.

I don't want an establishment Republican like Bush or McCain. I want a populist who speaks for the people, someone like Huckabee.

As far as electability, it's a factor but not the only factor. Right now, I see Santorum, Bachmann, Palin, Johnson, and Paul as unelectable candidates barring a nationwide landslide type of election, which is certainly possible. If you think it's going to be a massive conservative landslide type of election, then by all means go with the best candidate you can get.

Some have said that Cain is unelectable. I disagree. He's just not well-known. I think it's unlikely that he gets the nomination, but that's no reason not to support him.

If Daniels runs, I think he's got a very good shot at winning the nomination. It's only a matter of time before Romney's campaign unravels. He's polling high now only because of high name-recognition because he ran in 2008. Huckabee polled high for the same reason. His issue positions are out of step with the vast majority of the GOP electorate. He's going down. I could see a lot of his supporters shifting to Daniels when that happens. It's basically Romney versus Daniels for the GOP moderates/establishment. Should Daniels not run, look for a candidate like Huntsman to overtake Romney.

Keep an eye on Pawlenty though. He's pretty conservative, but not a flamethrower like Bachmann or Santorum. He's a fairly traditional Republican and an evangelical Christian. By the way, I personally like flamethrowers Just a lot of people don't. I don't think that Bachmann or Santorum are going anywhere in the campaign. They're probably out after Iowa. They might even call it quits if they don't do well in the Ames straw poll.

Cain is a darkhorse candidate. If his message resonates, he may rise in the polls. He's authentic, which is severely lacking for most candidates. His problem is that he doesn't have a natural constituency in the party. He's probably helped a lot by Huckabee not running.

That's my take of the race.

I would like to see Huckabee as VP.

_________________

Eric - I understand about your concern with Mitch as I have the same concern. Even though my family strongly supports him I am usually the one that goes against the grain, althugh not always for the best. The fact that he supported McCain during the last election is also a concern and could justify your reason for believing he is similar to McCain.

With that said, he was one of the first governors to start limiting the collective bargining rights with state workers. He was also known as the blade in not only Bush's white house, but Reagan's as well. Carried that same attitude over to the state of Indiana where the democrats in the state walked out on him a number of times. Balanced budgets by raising and lowering taxes to meet the state mandate of having a balance budget, which had not been done in the previous eight years. (sounds like someone else we know) Worked in the private sector (granted will have to answer for Lilly and IPALCO issues), but it did not hurt Romney when the Bain issues came up last year. Most of all, he is not a used car sales man like Romney and actually has a record that he can run on that has produced positive results unlike Obama.

I too am interested in Pawlenty for two reasons 1. Like the opporutnity to move MN to a red state and possible surrounding states like WI; 2. He is more focused on the social issues than Daniels (not that Daniels is not, it is not a central part of his campaign). Neither are a flamethrower, but both have a decent record as a governor which I would love to put up against Obama's last four years.

Now that Mitch Daniels has bowed out as well, the field is still open to latecomers. Here's a question: if you could draft any current politician (with a national profile) to run for president, who would it be?

Right now I would choose Huck's friend, Bob McDonnell from VA. He is a solid conservative who is very popular in VA. If only he could be persuaded to run!

McDonnell would be great. Jindal would be good. I'd like to see Jeb Bush in there. Paul Ryan, although he has no executive experience. Tom Coburn would be neat.

_________________
THE TIMES are nightfall, look, their light grows less;
The times are winter, watch, a world undone:
They waste, they wither worse; they as they run
Or bring more or more blazon man’s distress.
And I not help. Nor word now of success:
All is from wreck, here, there, to rescue one—
Work which to see scarce so much as begun
Makes welcome death, does dear forgetfulness.
Or what is else? There is your world within.
There rid the dragons, root out there the sin.
Your will is law in that small commonweal…
G.M. Hopkins.

I like Cain alot but he has no experience. As long as experience is not an issue than Cain can win.

I will keep hope alive that Huckabee has a change of heart.

Ditto for me. Sorry Daniels bowed out. He was a possibility for me. I don't see Pawlenty winning a debate against Obama. Cain, Santorum, and he did do well in the South Carolina debate. I thought Paul and Huntsman expressed some off the wall ideas. Bachmann should have a place somewhere with her business experience. I doubt the independents and moderates would vote for her as president--or anyone else who is openly socially conservative. (Although I think Huckabee might have pulled that off.)

It would be interesting to see a debate between Cain and Obama. Cain is quite a speaker. I believe if he is humble enough to surround himself with experience and actually listen, he might do all right in the oval office. Leaders don't have to know it all--They do have to know when they don't know it all and know where to go for support. I'm still keeping an open mind.

I appreciate the dialogue here and the info about the choices. (Even if there is disagreement, I hope we will respect one another's views. That's what Huckabee is good at--respecting and listening to someone with whom he disagrees. We can still carry that on here. )

_________________
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5)

Can Mike really "endorse" a candidate while he has a show on FOX and his radio report? Is that something that is allowed by FOX? How does that even work?