First of all, I have to say of the 3 Republicans that were left, Romney was my first choice. I wasn’t 100% for Romney–I think the flip-flopping charge stuck because it was true, and I didn’t like his previous stances on abortion and gay rights, but overall, I thought he was the best, and I still think that.

I keep hearing everyone say the sky is falling now that John McCain is probably going to win the republican nomination. I think this is ridiculous. This link on MSNBC Hardball shows 10 reasons why conservatives hate McCain. Of these 10 reasons, I can only agree with one of them, and am lukewarm on 2 others. Do these 10 reasons describe your position? Here’s what I think about these.

#1 Bad Temper – This is stupid. Every president and candidate has a bad temper. In fact you probably do too when provoked.

#2 Works with Democrats on bills – This is a bad thing? Only partisans won’t work with anyone. Aren’t we sick of gridlock? And let’s not forget that Orrin Hatch worked with Ted Kennedy on a few bills….(Oh yeah, I can hear the partisans now wanting to throw Hatch under the bus now….)

#3 Kerry asked him to be VP during 2004 campaign. – Kerry asked, but McCain said no. And you’re holding that against McCain? Shouldn’t the Democrats be upset too? Only partisans are upset about this. Are you a partisan, or one who tries to understand the other side, and do what’s best for the whole country?

#4 member of gang of 14 – stopped filibusters – I wasn’t sure what this was, so here is what Wikipedia says. “The Gang of 14 was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of moderate Senators in Congress who successfully negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005….While thwarting the goals of their respective party leaderships, the group members were hailed as moderates who put aside severe partisanship to do what was best for the Senate….strongly criticized by both Democratic and Republican partisans at the time, the compromise was successful in precluding further judicial filibusters or the use of the nuclear option during the rest of the 109th Congress.”

Is this a bad thing he did, or was it “cooler heads” prevailing?

#5 global warming – I’m neutral on this one, but anything which makes the world a better place to me, isn’t necessarily a bad thing, even if it causes some short term business hits. I’m not sure I totally agree with some of the conclusions of the scientists, but their solutions are meant to help us, not hurt us.

#6 Stem cell research – I’m for it, aren’t you?

#7 gay marriage – He doesn’t want Constitutional amendment Ok, I’d probably prefer the constitutional amendment–ya got me here. However, this is not a deal-killer for me. There are plenty of Democrats, Republicans & Independents who agree with McCain on this one.

#8 Against Bush tax cuts – Look, after the Clinton surpluses, we have deficits again. Our children will have to fix this if we don’t. I’m all for tax cuts, but if we don’t control spending (which Bush didn’t) then spending money we don’t have is a stupid course of action, and causes the inflation pressures, and decline of the dollar that we now have. How about tax cuts and spending cuts together? What a novel idea….

#9 Immigration – path to citizenship Ok. I’m against illegal immigration. We’ve got to do something here, and most of the immigration bigots don’t have a better solution. Once again, not a deal-killer for me. In fact, I respect that’s he’s willing to try to come up with a solution, even if the solution is imperfect.

#10 Campaign finance reform – I’m for it, aren’t you? (Oh, unless Mitt wants to spend all the money he can, then I guess it’s ok….Some people can be very hypocritical when it suits them.) Let me state it again–I’m for an even playing field and less special interest money. I’m for campaign finance reform. Look, this would hit Clinton, Romney, Forbes, Bloomberg, Obama, and Perot. Is it really fair for them to outspend all the other candidates, or does your support of this legislation depend on whether you support a particular candidate?

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I always thought I was a conservative, but if this list defines conservatives, count me out.

Let’s talk about Huckabee now. I will not vote for the guy. First, his record in Arkansas shows fiscal irresponsibility, Second, and his pardons were outrageous. Third, he was the leader of the religious bigot movement against Romney. I would vote for Obama over Huckabee, but I’m glad McCain is probably going to win, and I won’t have to make that choice.

Having said that, I have to say that this “speech/sermon” was interesting. I didn’t like the references comparing Huckabee to David vs Goliath, and the separation of church vs state seems a little tenuous in this video.

However, I thought some of his stories were great, and he isn’t such a villian in this video from Newsweek. Check out the other one about prayer too. I do like some of his values, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I guess the gloves come off in the campaign.

Can you imagine the reaction if Mitt gave a similar speech? The evangelicals would be howling.