I agree with your point that too many nationally are favoring someone who they think will win (specifically Rudy) versus the people who really match their values (shrink government, really reduce the abhorrent killing of babies, give states back their choice in creating laws, protect the constituion, solve the financial problems and the debt issues and save our country from broken entitlement programs, etc.)

But you have Romney wrong if you think he isn't the one who stands for all of those things.  And unlike Ron Paul, he has proven time and again that he can actually get it done on a massive scale!

What an incredible opportunity with Mitt Romney to have someone who the social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, libertarians, fair tax advocates, and those who distrust the size of government and assumption that government can run your life better than you can can ALL get behind and support.  We have a rare opportunity in what appears to be a man who can do three critical things simultaneously: (1) actually win the nomination and general election by energizing the base in a way Rudy cannot, (2) actually match my ideals almost exactly, in the way Reagan did, and (3) actually succeed at implementing and leading in exactly the way he has outlined, with proven competence turning around distressed, scandal rocked security nightmares like the olympic games right after 9/11 or the bluest of the blue states, not to mention time and again in private business, turning record losses into record surpluses and restoring faith, respect, and trust in the organizations again at the same time.

Ron Paul may have #2 for a lot of us, but he is missing #1 and perhaps more importantly, #3.  Fortunately, in this situation, one can have it ALL, in the form of Mitt Romney.

Give Romney some more thought, Paul.  You seem like a bright guy who won't be mislead by mischaracterizations.

I can find nothing good in any of the other candidates.  Ron Paul wants to get back to the constitution, which Bush has left in tatters.  Smaller government, get rid of the illegal IRS.

Let's upset the old apple cart and get Ron Paul in office.  It upsets me greatly that Ron Paul wins ALL of the internet polls by huge margins but barely registers with the main stream media.  And then we have the likes of ABC who changes the results.

I think they are actually afraid of Ron Paul.  This is the first time in years that I have felt like I have a candidate I can get behind rather than the lesser of two evils.

I have been handing out Ron Paul Liberty Cards (google it) everywhere I go.  I even leave them laying around for others to find.

Why does he have to lie about his religion?  Because it's a cult, a false religion.  Not the same god or jesus of the Bible.  He not only wants to be president, he is looking forward to being a god of his own planet some day.

I'm so happy that I don't have to lie about my faith.

Ben, your comment:

“Romney looks like the best chances for both the nomination and general election from where I sit,” sums up for me one side of the race for the R nomination.  It seems to me, as an observer over my 45 years, that the biggest impediment to nominating a *real* conservative is the propensity of the R base to nominate the candidate they perceive is the best odds to win in the general election and not for who best represents their views.  The problem with this thinking is, that you get nothing for picking the winner (and the media influences the thinking).  Winning with a pragmatist politician, who looks good and will say whatever is necessary to win, is that you end up with much the same result as a Democrat.  Whether he's got an R or a D by his name does not really matter, if he's a pragmatic politician who is just trying to stay on top. 

As I see it, on the R side in this election cycle, it's a fight between the idealists who want to put up a *real* conservative versus the pragmatists who just want to win.  I say:  quit thinking about the end game and start voting for your principles, if you ever want those principles to find expression in the political realm.

Its the election of RINO's (republican in name only) that has, and is, killing our party and its majority power position.  Too many vote for the guy who looks and talks conservative, like Romney, but who does not walk the walk.  Like George Bush.  The news media has tried its best to portray him as a right winger, but the reality is, he's been anything but.  His growth of government during his 8 years makes that plain. 

All this aside, I take issue with pragmatists than any pro-war R candidate can atually win in 2008.  Think it through.  Why did R's lose the Congress last election (by slim margins across all races)?  Where's public sentiment likely to be a year from now, with the occupation in it's sixth year?  Truly, our best hope to really win, is with an anti-war candidate.  And fortunately, we have one.  A *real* one, with proven credentials consisting of many years of public speeches and interviews.  His name is Ron Paul. Check him out thoroughly, because in his case, you actually can.  And you will know him, because he does not change.  He's unlike any “politician” most have ever known, because he's more of a statesman; he cares about principle, not just winning.

Paul Velte

Attorney at Law

Austin, TX

Ron Paul 2008!!!

But if you people out there in Iowa Don't wake up and smell the Larceny.And say something about how your Straw poll operated.And the Voting Machines used in this ganglang operation