The Holy Cow candidate

I, like not a few Americans, have been following the presidential hopefuls since the beginning of the year. I think the race is down to seven--Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and that one Edwards guy from South Carolina--oh, yeah, John--on the one side. On the other are Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and that McCain guy from Arizona--oh, yeah, John. I'm tempted to dump the two Johns off this list. John Edwards seems to be plummeting because he looks more like a student body president than a U.S. President--and possibly other reasons. And McCain seems to have let his native charm get in the way of things. In fact, I think Clinton pretty much has the donkey side all wrapped up.

But the elephant side is a real mess. You've got Giuliani who has been through a few marriages and is pro-choice as a matter of public policy, which has got much of the Republicans a bit concerned. You've got Mitt Romney, who really has lost some credibility with the political expediency thing (his positions on abortion and same-sex marriage have migrated). You've got Fred Thompson who is great at drawling about stuff and things, y'know, and stuff. I think Fred Thompson is being figured out, though. I've seen more articles in the past week insisting that Fred Thompson is not out of the game yet. Very encouraging for him.

I really think it's probably down to three, when we boil things down a bit: Clinton, Giuliani and Romney.

There's something to be said about each one: Clinton has clout and strength and recognizability; Giuliani has a pinched nose, recognizability, and an affable toughness about him; Romney has that hairdo.

But I've been trying to dig deep on Romney. He's kind of the wildcard (with all apologies to Tancredo). There's the "Mormon question" that's haunting him. He's always being praised and slammed for "looking presidential" (I would ask what that means, but John Edwards and Dan Quayle have accidentally answered that for us) and for being really, really smart. I mean, we can only go through so much change at a time, right?

But I read an article from Atlantic Monthly that is quite interesting. It addressed a lot of my questions about whether this guy is for real or only skin deep. I think it's a must read.

In any case, the primaries are that far away. (And by "are" I mean "aren't.") Romney has been leading the polls in New Hampshire and Iowa, while Giuliani leads the national polls handily on the Republican side. Clinton has been dominating the Democratic side for a while now.

One thing to consider on Romney is this: should we trust a candidate who punishes his son for his parents' mistake with his own name? Between Mitt and Tagg, I can't help but feel like I'm playing a game of pickle with my brother circa 1978.