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It’s flat out embarrassing to watch you folks stoop to this.

Not necessarily. Bachmann and Cain lack major financial backing or experience. Santorum hasn't held office in awhile.

Ronald Reagan had a tough time in the 1979-80 time frame. His fundraising didn't really kick in until he had wone a couple of primaries. It's my take that it's our duty to help get these folks the backing they need, that will carry them far enough along where their campaigns will sustain themselves. That's truly what Reagan had to do.

Palin is the only credible candidate further right than Perry who could win the nomination and even that is debatable.

Look folks, we're trying to nominate someone to our own party. We're not trying to spring them on Democrats right now. We talk a good game for three years, then we wilt when it comes to getting the real deals the nomination. We are defeating ourselves. We are defeating our own expressed goals.

Perry has his flaws but he also has a trump card in his deck which is Texas' robust job growth in the face of a national recession.

Folks from Texas will have to explain to me if Perry took some major action or not, that wound up saving hundreds of thousands of jobs in his state, single-handedly.

He took over from Bush, and the state was evidently in fairly sound condition then. Has he really been the reason jobs have remained in Texas, or is it the fact that Texas had some decent laws that pretty much supported a decent economy without too much tweaking?

I think a lot of FReepers see that he's the most practical choice to beat Obama even if he's not the full slate. He's further right than Dubya and FR was full-bore pro-Bush for at least six years.

I appreciate the mention, but I'm not totally convinced that he is further right than Bush was. From what I've been looking at, he has some definite Leftist tendencies.

If Palin jumps in, I'm happy with Palin or Perry but the last thing any of us wants is for them to cancel each other out and give us Romney.

I don't want Romney either, but I'm not convinced Romney is as strong as everyone seems to think. When people start reviewing what these candidates have stood for in the past, I think they're going to be a lot less enthused with then, and see them as moderates.

I give some people credit for being pragmatic in the face of four years or Obama.

And I'm not necessarily a die hard rejector of pragmatic behavior at some point, if we don't sell out our full goals before we've actually taken one step in the race.

That's exactly what some folks are doing here. The first primary is over four months away, and we already have the declared winner. Ah no we don't.

I understand where you are coming from. You stated your case well and I appreciate it. Take care.

I've lived in Texas throughout both Bush's gubernatorial terms and Perry's. I used to call Bush "The Great Compromiser" (a play on Reagan's "Great Communicator") because he would take a very conservative stand at first then allow the bills to get watered down until he had very weak bills he could sign to say "I gave you xxx".

I was alarmed at his growing friendship with Bob Bullock, a true snake of a Democrat. Bush did exceed my expectations of him as president but I think that was largely because 9-11 had a profound effect on him.

Perry is not Bush. Perry is more dogmatic. He is less likely to back down from his positions. He's probably benefited from a more conservative legislature but he has signed some laws that ought to make most conservatives, especially social conservatives, very happy.

It's possible Perry will make the same mistake as Bush, believing that governing in Washington will be like governing in Austin. I worry he'll be too cavalier with his words and have a "macaca" moment that he could skate through in Texas, but not in DC.

I worry about ethical lapses with him more than I do moral lapses (i.e. infidelity).

I understand where you are coming from and I'm not ready to anoint Perry either. I want to see how the next six months shake out but I don't think he'll be as bad as some of the critics fear.

I do think if he is elected, particularly with a mandate to end ObamaCare, that the economy will get the boost that Obama refuses to give it. A lot of money on the sidelines will go back into investment. Probably most Republicans will have that same effect but Perry's pro-business credentials are unquestioned.