You’re right - I support Jim DeMint first, because he is by far the most conservative person whose name has even been tossed around - more so than Sarah Palin.
I would support Herman Cain second, since he’s also very conservative, and I’m willing to give him a mulligan on the 2008 TARP support thing (IIRC, he’s admitted to being wrong on that, btw).
I would support Pawlenty next, because his record in Minnesota, while not perfect, is reasonably good, and frankly, he’s probably the kind of mainstream (but not FReeper redmeat) conservative who would still govern to the right most of the time, while still being “electable.”
Next would be a cluster with Palin, Santorum, Rick Perry, Butch Otter, and a few others in it - all folks who have a few drawbacks, but are much better than worse - but who just don’t “excite” me politically.
Romney, Huckabee, Giuliani, Ron Paul, Gary Johnson - all of them are right out.
So yeah, I’m not ashamed to support others ahead of Palin, and I don’t see any reason why I should be.
May I ask you this.....If it comes down to Palin vs. Obama....will u get on board and do everything in your power to support her....or will u still be wringing your hands ‘till they bleed?......it’s a simple yes or no question
Hey, as you know, you’re entitled to support anyone you want here (except of course the Mittster). But I’d take issue with DeMint being the most conservative option, even if he were to enter. He was a big Mitt supporter in ‘08 and he’s played footsie with him since. I’d say Bachmann is the most conservative of the options, with Cain and Palin and DeMint perhaps tied after that.
I don’t actually think TPaw is any more conservative than Mitt or Daniels. He is more so than Huntsman, I’d venture.
But the larger point is that any of your gripes about Palin’s record or experience are rendered hollow by your acceptance of those with less traditional qualification that you say you’d choose above her.
And, finally, opinions of who can best win over Obama are judgments that will never be confirmed objectively. But I think you’re completely out to lunch there if you think DeMint or Cain or TPaw would be more competent to beat Obama than Palin.