Mitt Romney: A savvy businessman, but hasn’t convinced me of his being a conservative. He has a record that screams RINO (Republican in name only). Unless convinced otherwise I will not be supporting his candidacy for the Republican nomination. But should he win the nomination I would support him – even a bland Republican would be better than what we have now.

Michele Bachmann: This Iowa born Minnesotan is a dedicated conservative. Her victory in the Iowa straw poll has catapulted her into the top tier of candidates. I remain skeptical whether she can win the nomination though – much less beat Obama in the main event. Her stand with regard to the debt ceiling is just one issue, but it puts me at odds with her. While I will admit that reducing our national debt is a very high priority, we need to create a good climate for jobs before we go tossing another million people out of work. Tax cuts and regulation rollback is more important for our prosperity than the draconian stand taken by Bachmann.

Ron Paul: A dedicated Constitutionalist, and conservative. I like his message except the part where he wants to isolate us from the world. Isolationism has never worked out and besides we need the rest of the world for commerce and safety. It is a dangerous place out there and the ostrich maneuver will not help. These are not the times to put our head in the sand.

Newt Gingrich: Articulates conservatism better than all of the other candidates combined. He uses both historic and factual current information to appeal to our sense of logic. All I can say is good luck with that. Most people have left their logic at the altar of emotionalism and Utopian dreams. That is why Newt will not be the Republican candidate for November. Sadly, because I would support Newt if I thought he had any chance at all of winning. The pundits will cite his baggage from the past for his failed candidacy.

Rick Perry: Being a resident of Texas makes it more difficult to contemplate Perry for president. I have disagreed with a lot of what Perry has done, but don’t have a strong objection to him. I agreed with his vaccination plan for young girls against human papillomavirus. Parents need to come to terms with the fact that our young are much more sexually active than a generation ago. It is sad that this effort got mired in politics and had to be abandoned. Perry is a conservative and would govern in Washington as a conservative. If he wins the nomination, I will support him.

Rick Santorum: Here is a candidate that I currently rank high on my list of favorites. Even though he is being overshadowed by some of the others, he definitely has a grasp of the issues. Principally, the marriage between same sex partners being a state or federal issue. His stand for this as a federal issue is the correct one. If the issue is left up to each state, it would bring about chaos for the participants. Rick Santorum is a conservative with good credentials but unfortunately will probably fail in the primaries.

Herman Cain: A refreshing alternative to the above. Not a pretentious person and doesn’t wear his race on his sleeve. Cain is an accomplished businessman with a good record for finding solutions to thorny problems. We, (my wife and I) very much like Cain and will take a wait and see position as to how he fares with his campaign. Cain is a long shot but may be worth consideration.

Buddy Roemer: Buddy is a converted Democrat with a campaign dedicated to stamping out corruption. We like his mission but fail to see how he can get traction without more press exposure. If by miracle he should win the nomination we would support him. Buddy Roemer has not been in politics for several years; we wish him luck.

Jon Hunstman: A more liberal and main-stream Republican who represents the establishment side of the party. Jon’s middle-of-the-road stand may sound a bit on the liberal side, but after listening to his positions during the Iowa debate, I find him hard to not like. As a governor, he has done a very credible job governing as a moderate conservative.

Thaddeus McCotter: No exposure insures that he will not gain any traction. I have no idea where he stands on the various issues. He may be a terrific candidate if I only knew something about him. Even with available information on the web, I didn’t see fit to look it up. This piece is based only on information that actually gets seen, heard, and talked about – not about an obscure candidate that I would have to do research on to learn about.