Thoughts on life, love and faith by Plasticmind.

After watching Friday’s Republican debate in Florida, I thought it was finally time to share some of the things I’ve been thinking over the past year of following presidential candidates. I’m fully prepared for you to disagree. Comment forms are standing by.

Ron Paul

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Ron Paul. He’s got more Internet mojo than Willy Hung, and much of it can be contributed to his radical Libertarian ideas: disband the IRS, the CIA, the NEA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education. Everybody loves a maverick, especially one that will take shots at the “man”. But Paul’s goals are a pipe dream, I think; his goals, while noble and discussion-worthy, are practically unreachable.

First, he’s certainly doesn’t have the ability to get people on board with his vision; he constantly comes across like someone who’s mad at everyone. Even his Congressional colleagues said he was really standoffish. That was made crystal clear watching the debates; he’s extremely polemic, and that’s the last thing we need in the White House now (especially with all the work that needs to be done).

Second, while I agree that the government is too large and needs trimming; how do you kill the Department of Education without “blowback”? How do you win the war of intelligence when you clip the wings of your intelligence agencies? And most importantly: in Paul’s decentralized world, how do you deal with all of the interstate miscommunication that contributed to chaos on 9/11? That’s one of the key reasons the DHS was formed, to enhance the sharing of information across state borders.

My point is, it’s easy to say “throw these government agencies out”; but I think Ron Paul would make the same mistake we made going into Iraq. Yeah, toppling Sadaam is a noble goal; but what do we do once he’s gone? Taking the government away from several generations of people who have grown up depending on it isn’t going to be butterflies and horseys.

Mitt Romney

Good ole’ Mormon Mitt, the smooth-talking governor from Massachusetts that tastes like Kennedy. The candidate with Bob Jones III’s endorsement! (More on that in a minute.) Let’s start with Jon Stewart’s thoughts on Mitt: “Can anyone else rescue this party? [clips of Mitt Romney saying he’s pro-life and a lifelong hunter.] You had me at you’re a pro-life hunter. Mitt Romney … is a perfect GOP candidate. Uh, except for this [on screen: Romney saying he believes abortion should be legal]. All right, well, you’re pro-life … now. As for the big time hunting, it’s now been revealed that he’s never purchased a hunting license and he’s only been twice. So, a patrician flip-flopper from Massachusetts [on screen: John Kerry] … good luck with that.”

Kerry vibes aside, he managed to snatch support from Bob Jones III. Which is puzzling, considering that the University by the same name prides themselves on their separatism. The head of this self-proclaimed bastion of Christian fundamentalism endorsing a presidential candidate who practices what the school itself labels a cult (Mormonism). How do you explain that one, Dr. Bob? “This is all about beating Hillary and I just believe that this man has the credentials both personally and ideologically in terms of his view about what American government should be to best represent the rank and file of conservative Americans.”

Asked whether Romney’s religion was a stumbling block for him, Jones replied, “What is the alternative, Hillary’s lack of religion or an erroneous religion? As a Christian I am completely opposed to the doctrines of Mormonism,” he said. “But I’m not voting for a preacher. I’m voting for a president. It boils down to who can best represent conservative American beliefs, not religious beliefs.”

Ah, so conviction takes a backseat to beating Hillary. Got it. There’s nothing quite like drumming up support for a candidate with fear of Hillary Clinton. Except maybe a message of truth and steadfastness. Yeah, I guess that works, too.

Everybody Else

There’s not too many else worth mentioning. Giuliani has recognition, but he’ll never make it, not with all the social issues he’s wrong on. He’s as Democratic as Ron Paul is Libertarian. McCain also has recognition along with a strong military background, but he lacks the enthusiasm to win. Watch him in the last debate. He sounds like a robot. Tancreta will (read: should) drop out soon. His responses at the debates make me cringe and have to look away. He seems like a great guy, just not a gifted communicator. Fred Thompson just conjures way too many thoughts of Dick Cheney. Am I missing anyone else? yawn

Mike Huckabee

Then there’s Mike. Born and raised in Bill Clinton’s hometown of Hope, Arkansas, he’s an unlikely blend: former Baptist pastor and bassist for a group called Capital Offense who went on to become the governor of Arkansas for 10 years. He’s raised only $2 million so far (compared to Romney’s $44 million), yet won a firm second place at the recent Iowa straw poll.

Some Christian leaders have hesitated supporting him because they don’t think he’s popular enough to get elected. He was told “you don’t have the political traction” to which he responded, “you guys are my political traction.” But he brought up a good point. Guiliani, McCain, Thompson—these guys have tons of name recognition, yet look how they’re doing the polls. They’ve decreased in support while Mike has gone nowhere but up.

Sure, he’s made mistakes. He wrongly pardoned a rapist who went out and murdered again. He also raised some taxes, but again, as part of a compromise with others in his state to accomplish some important goals.

But I think most importantly, he is a gifted communicator. I know, that sounds trite; but if you cannot express your ideas clearly, you cannot get people to share your vision. And if you can’t effectively interact with other people, they’ll never respect you. I think this is about 75% of George W. Bush’s problem. Because he can’t communicatate his ideas correctingly, people don’t respectify him. His brusque interaction with foreign dignitaries brings nothing but reproach to our country. Huckabee, on the other hand, is not only a gifted speaker, but he’s been governor with a Democrat majority and has gotten a lot done.

Obviously, you’ll have to do some studying up. There are quite a few candidates to consider. To make it easier for people to get to know Mike Huckabee a little better, I put together I Heart Huckabee, a growing collection of links and essential information about Mike Huckabee. (ihearthuckabee.com) Hopefully, it’ll give you a better picture of what he’s all about so you can make a more informed decisions.

Let the comment wars ensue!