I am starting with the premise that there was no way that I could, in good conscience and being of sound mind, support the democrats who have done almost everything in their power to turn the United States into a pork-barrel, third-world nation of balkanized interests and led by whoever was paying their political freight. Corrupt, chaotic and led by people with "stick-on" character.

What I want is a conservative who could protect the United States from all enemies, both foreign and domestic, reduce the profligate government spending which has unabatedly occurred on the Republican watch and bring ethics back into government service. Someone who would put good government before religion, race and other matters which are corrupting our national search for leadership.

I started out liking John McCain...

Conservative issues discussed by an energetic straight-talking candidate. Everything I considered John McCain to be until he attempted to subvert the sovereignty, safety and security with his secretly-crafted McCain/Kennedy/Bush "SHAMnesty" legislation. I even forgave McCain for his major McCain/Feingold campaign legislation which introduced even more money and malevolence into American Politics.

After McCain fell prey to the "open borders crowd," I renewed my search...

Here was Fred Thompson. Apparently a seasoned lawyer/lobbyist with hands-on political experience plus the ability to communicate forcefully with his audience. Once again, I was looking for an energetic straight-talking candidate who was able to convincingly speak to conservative issues. I was hoping that a Fred Thompson candidacy was everything I wanted.

And then Fred Thompson petered out...

Yes, I heard the media declare Fred to be lackluster, ill-informed and all of their other blathering. Until I saw several of his speeches for myself and was able to see that he lacked the "oomph" and "killer instinct" of a seasoned candidate. Something was not quite right with his candidacy.

Perhaps it was me and my perceptions that were somehow faulty...

I pride myself as being a rational, logical thinker who can read the tea leaves like anyone else. But why the self-doubt? A little introspection provided the answer: the evidence did not support my emotional opinion of the candidate. And, apparently I was not alone.

From the Grassfire people...

"The nation's largest statistically valid survey of grassroots conservatives has found that Mike Huckabee now enjoys a 2-to-1 margin of support over his nearest competitor—a dramatic shift from a similar poll conducted in September."

"When asked whom they would vote for if the Republican primary were held today, 33% of grassroots conservatives preferred Huckabee—an increase from just 7% in the September Grassfire poll. Fred Thompson, who led Grassfire's May and September polls by wide margins, finished second—losing nearly half his support (15% down from 28% in September)."

"Grassfire.org conducted the survey December 1-9, 2007 of all active Grassfire.org team members. Over 67,000 participated and the survey has a margin of error of less than 1% at a 99% confidence level for the Grassfire.org audience."

While the Grassfire poll is statistically valid for their targeted audience, there are doubts remaining that the results can be projected onto a larger audience which does not appear to be so politically-involved with ideologies or candidates -- especially as the holidays approach and money issues loom large in the minds of ordinary citizens.

An unfortunate choice of words?

From the Thompson camp...

"I wanted to remind you the last debate before the Iowa Caucuses is tomorrow. It will be on Iowa Public Television live at 1 p.m. CT with a replay at 7 p.m. You can also watch it on CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN3, and at DesMoinesRegister.com. Or you can listen to it on C-SPAN Radio or Fox News Radio. Fred just keeps getting better and better and this should be his best performance yet. I don't want you to miss it."

Thanks and stay safe if you're in some nasty weather. -- Todd Harris, Communications Director, Friends of Fred Thompson

Which does little to allay my fears that Thompson is in a perpetual "rehearsal" and that, while his ideas are solid, what we are seeing is a "performance." My greatest fear is that he lacks the energy and fortitude to mount a clear, convincing campaign and that will, I fear, translate to a White House performance that will take the "path of least resistance" and that he will succumb to the advice of his aides and pursue a "vanilla" course of action to get along with a potentially hostile Congress.

Huckabee up...

Next in line was Mike Huckabee. Yes, I realized that he was another "Arkansas" legislator with the requisite warts and political miscues. But he was conservative and seemed to be a good campaigner. (6 on a scale of 1-to-Bill Clinton). Whoops: open borders, big government, taxes, nannystate, questionable paroles...

Huckabee out...

But then came that "religious thing." The very last thing I wanted in office is a religious zealot. A "born again this or that." A fundamentalist whatever. I am tired of the religious right, left and middle trying to co-opt politicians for something other than providing an ethical government that would protect and serve the American people.

Mitt Romney...

There was that little religious thing about being a Mormon. Not all that troubling as he, at least on some level, believed in family values, the virtues of clean living and what a life of dedicated service meant. And is was mostly conservative -- or was he? All of the apparent flip-flops did little to quiet my thoughts that he might just be a less-divisive version of Hillary Clinton who was well known for bending in the direction of poll-driven winds.

Next...

I had never seriously considered Rudy Giuliani as I believed him to be a RINO (Republican In Name Only) whose ability to be at the right place at the right time was his single most important claim to fame. I believe that most type-A alpha males when faced with similar circumstances would have reacted much in the same manner. Plus there was that little thing about fighting with Bratton over credit for crime reduction and all of the ex-Mayor's suspect friends.

I considered Ron Paul for about thirty seconds. Conclusion: a Ross Perot-type patriot who wanted to dismantle the less attractive institutions of government -- but who would be hard-pressed to overcome the powerful entrenched bureaucracy and the monied special interests.

Duncan Hunter of California?

Time for another look!  ** UPDATE** Duncan Hunter appears to have several ethics issues involving his alleged trading political favors for campaign cash and plans to retire after his term ends in 2009. More information on these charges can be found at http://www.beyonddelay.org/files/Hunter%20Profile.pdf with additional exhibits at http://www.beyonddelay.org/files/Hunter%20Exhibits-Edits.pdf.

What can YOU do?

Don't settle for an average candidate who is by definition, either the worst of the best or best of the worst. Keep researching the candidates, even the ones that you may have passed over in the preliminary cut.

Don't settle for someone because they can beat Hillary or Obama. Both are deeply flawed candidacies which, given the light of day, will seem less attractive than any conservative choice.

There is still time to see what the political parties -- the very same ones who have hyper-politicized America -- propose.

But there is one rule: Do not support or vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for personal power, prestige or profits.

Join me in the waiting game.

-- steve

A reminder from OneCitizenSpeaking.com: a large improvement can result from a small change…

The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius