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I have a very warm spot in my heart for Ted Cruz.

I am not a party voter. I am not an issues voter. I am a character voter. And my sense of Cruz is that he definitely measures up.

However, I also like Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, and Ben Carson. I think they measure up, too. Of these four men (I'm including Cruz here), only one has executive experience (Gov. Walker); two are freshman senators (like the last time — ouch!!!); and one has never held public office of any kind (Dr. Carson).

It's too early to see how this all turns out — there are just so many candidates. (Certain of whom I wish would just "go away" — e.g., Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump. That's not to say I'm not a great admirer of Gov. Huckabee. I am.)

I have mixed feelings about Rand Paul, but could vote for him if he wins the nomination. I really like Carly Fiorina, and hope she runs. I don't think she can be elected president, but might be a fine choice for Veep. Where I think she can be particularly valuable is on the debate circuit. As a woman, she can speak of HRC in frank terms and get away with it in a way that no man can.

It'll be interesting!!! Get out the popcorn....

I read “Killing Jesus” and thought it OK for the most part. I wouldn’t expect the producers of O’Reilly’s book to have been given much leeway in creative interpretation, so my guess is that the movie, which I haven’t seen, fleshes out O’Reilly’s “historic Jesus” a bit more.

The normal pablum from unknowing writers was in it: age of oral transmission always gets my goat. Here we have written documents preserved around the world, scribes, and amanuenses mentioned throughout the bible itself, and somehow they come up with the oral transmission garbage. Even when Luke provides direct evidence against it at the beginning of his gospel.

I DVRd the movie, so I’ll watch it when I get time.

Of those politicians in you list my order of priority goes:

Cruz
Walker
Rubio

I just don’t consider Carson to be prime time ready. Regardless of his recently liberal positions, Bush repels the anti-dynastic in me (as does Hillary, Kennedy.)

I still like Perry. I also like Martinez over Fiorina when it comes to a female. Huckabee isn’t really on my list. Trump is a sideshow. Christie is dead in the water.

Cruz is for me the right guy for the times and the job. It isn’t just that he seems to be a fighter, and principled, and a Christian, but that he seems clear-eyed and clear-headed in a way others do not. He is a first-term senator but he pre-senate record is pretty impressive. And asked to choose between someone with experience who doesn’t get it, and won’t fight, versus someone who does get it and does fight, its an easy choice.

I like Walker; he has proven himself to be rather fearless. Not as clear on principle, but still principled. And willing to fight all day long and as long as it takes. You have to like a guy like that.

Rubio says the right things but does not strike me as having any toughness about him. He’s young yet. He is not a fighter; he is a careerist.

Carson is a good speaker, likable, he has good instincts about certain things, but he is not presidential material. He is not clear on the 2nd Amendment; he hasn’t spent much time thinking about foreign policy. That could all be changed if he served a couple of terms in congress.

Huck strikes me as a good person. But I haven’t forgotten how he attacked anyone wanting to secure the border as “unchristian”. He has changed his position in recent years but I know where his instincts are on the subject. Thats not the unforgivable sin by itself, though; my views on the border have certainly evolved as I have grown older. I suppose I should grant that others may also have changed their views over the last couple of decades.

But still.

I like Perry on several levels, though he has made me nervous about a few things. But he strikes me as a good man. He isn’t as clear on principle as he should be but he is probably more clear than many. And he will fight.

Jeb is a no go. At one time I thought he’d make a fine president, he was by all accounts a good governor. But after Terry Schiavo died I thought to myself, Grace has just left him. He’ll never be president. Later when he attacked the Arizona governor who was trying to enforce immigration law, I thought, this guy has lost his way. And more recently when he attacked conservatives in general I had to realize that, on policy at least, he and Hillary are twins almost.

So if he is the nominee he’ll have to win without my vote.

So my list is Cruz with Walker as VP. Followed by Cruz with Perry as VP. Or Cruz with Palin as VP. Or Cruz with anyone from the phone book picked at random for VP.