Sadly, McAmnesty, the Flipper, Juilie Anne, or the Hickster will all apply moderate or liberal solutions to these issues. None of them are conservatives. They do not think conservatively and constitutionality, federalism, individual rights, fiscal restraint, etc, will not even occur to them. They’ll all apply big government solutions to solve societal issues that should be left to the states or to the people people or not tackled by government at all, ie, the Democrat way. None of them will be good on immigration, guns, judges, healthcare, social security, taxes, spending, etc. Huckabee is pro-life, Giuliani pro death, Romney claims to have converted from death to life, and McCain claims to be pro life. All claim to be suitable as Commander-in-Chief but only McCain has any experience whatsoever in military/national security/foriegn policy areas.
In short, if Thompson or Hunter don’t make it, were stuck with the dregs of RINOism. Not a conservative instinct in the bunch. Giuliani, as a gun-grabbing, abortion/gay rights activist and sanctuary city guy is a definite no. McCain is a turncoat, backstabbing Kennedy/Democrat lover and is out. Romney flip flops on all important issues and applies big government solutions to free market problems. No thanks. And Huckabee is a populist RINO. Can’t trust any of them.
GO, FRed, GO!!
If Fred or Hunter don't "make it" and it becomes necessary to vote while holding my nose and puking, I tried to devise a rational way to determine which RINO would make me puke the least.
I identified my top 29 issues and prioritized them based on:
It seemed rational that issues like being conquered by illegal immigrants or losing the war, being more immediate, potentially negative and unchangeable, were more critical than even important issues like Gay Rights or Healthcare. Therefore issues that are more immediate, more negative and that were relatively unchangeable were more highly prioritized.
I spent yesterday analyzing the candidates quotes and votes from several sources including http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm, and made some judgments about their level of conservatism. Taking into consideration the "If their lips are moving, they're lying" factor, I marked a candidate lower if I thought their stated position was shaded like with Huckabee on Taxes, McAmnesty on Immigration, Romney on Gay Rights or Giuliani on Guns.
The ranking scale range is:
I separated and subtotaled the top 10 and the top 20 from the total to see how the candidates compare on the most important issues as opposed to the total.
No one scores as high as FRed.
In order they rank, The Flipper, Juilie Anne, the Hickster and McAmnesty.
Romney may be the "Best of the Worst". Especially on critical top 10 issues.
| Issue | Immediacy | Negativity | Changeability | ||||||
| Giuliani | Huckabee | McCain | Romney | Thompson | |||||
| 1- Electablity-Any R is better than a D | Imminent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 8 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 5 | |
| 2- Illegal Immigration | Imminent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 10 | |
| 3- War Iraq & on terror | Imminent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 4- SCOTUS appts | Urgent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 10 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 10 | |
| 5- Guns & 2nd Amend | Urgent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 0 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | |
| 6- Business/infl/rec | Imminent | Powerful | Changeable | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | |
| 7- Lower Taxes | Imminent | Powerful | Changeable | 10 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | |
| 8- Iran | Urgent | Devastating | Changeable | 10 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 9- Pro-Life | Urgent | Devastating | Changeable | 0 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | |
| 10- Gov Healthcare | Urgent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | |
| Top 10 Total | 70 | 60 | 67 | 86 | 95 | ||||
| 11- Soc Sec-Privatize | Urgent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 12- Internet Tax | Urgent | Devastating | Unchangeable | 10 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 13- Kyoto Treaty | Urgent | Devastating | Changeable | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 14- Global Warming | Urgent | Devastating | Changeable | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 15- Energy Indy | Urgent | Powerful | Changeable | 8 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 8 | |
| 16- ANWAR Drilling | Urgent | Powerful | Changeable | 5 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 10 | |
| 17- Globalism & Free Trd | Urgent | Powerful | Changeable | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 18- Tax Reform | Urgent | Powerful | Changeable | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 9 | |
| 19- Gay Rights | Serious | Powerful | Unchangeable | 0 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 8 | |
| 20- CFR & 1st Amend | Serious | Powerful | Changeable | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | |
| Top 20 Total | 125 | 122 | 122 | 171 | 185 | ||||
| 21- School Vouchers | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 22- Guantanamo | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | |
| 23- Waterboarding | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | |
| 24- Death Penalty | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 25- Tort Reform | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 5 | |
| 26- Federalism | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 5 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 10 | |
| 27- Crime | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 28- Affirmative Action | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 5 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 0 | |
| 29- Military Strength | Serious | Strong | Changeable | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| All Issues Total | 205 | 184 | 177 | 257 | 260 | ||||
| Conservative= 10 | |||||||||
| Conservative to Moderate= 8 | |||||||||
| Moderate or Unreliable=5 | |||||||||
| Moderate to Liberal= 2 | |||||||||
| Liberal= 0 |