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It's a question Republicans are asking each other more and more often: Who do you like for president? But answers are hard to come by, let alone a consensus.Most observers agree the three contenders are John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. So far, though, the polls conducted of Republican voters don't justify Romney's inclusion with the other two. A Fox News poll taken at the end of January has Giuliani at 34%, McCain at 22%, and Newt Gingrich at 15%. Candidates trailing far behind with low single digits are Mitt Romney, Duncan Hunter and Sam Brownback.A Time magazine poll taken around the same time has McCain at 30%, Giuliani at 26%, Gingrich at 14% and Romney at 5%.Several other polls reflect the same reality, with McCain and Giuliani fighting for the lead, with Gingrich within striking range, and Romney, Brownback, etc., far, far behind.Of course, at this early stage, the polls tend to reflect name identification more than anything else, and McCain, Giuliani and Gingrich have been in the national spotlight for several years, while Romney and company are relative newcomers to most Americans, even in the GOP ranks.When people ask me who I like for president, I have no answer. I'm not excited yet about anyone in particular. I think McCain certainly has the experience and qualifications, but his tendency to play the maverick does not impress me.I have tremendous admiration for Giuliani and his leadership skills, but his liberal position on social issues makes winning a GOP primary a real challenge, just as it would be for Romney for the same reasons.My personal favorite at this point would be Gingrich, who could very possibly win the primary because he appeals to those who tend to dominate the primaries -- the conservative wing of the party. But I have real questions about Newt's ability to win a General Election, and he might be one of the few Republicans Hillary Clinton could actually defeat. But wouldn't a Hillary vs. Newt campaign be fun?The wild card in the GOP mix could be Condoleeza Rice. Right now, the secretary of state professes no interest in running, but she has another six months or so to change her mind. Two women running in November of '08 would not only be historic, but entertaining as well.The Republican Gazette welcomes Emails to the Editor and press releases. All submitted items must include the name and contact information for the author of the article, and all articles will only be published with the author's name included.Thank you for reading and participating in The Republican Gazette, another of West Virginia's most biased publications.
The (Martinsburg) Journal has done it again. In a recent editorial commenting on state legislative proposals, The Journal comes up with one of its own -- penalizing those who reveal the filing of an ethics complaint. Recommends The Journal: "...make it a misdemeanor punishable by jail time and/or a fine for anyone to reveal that ethics complaints have been filed against a candidate for elective office." Of course, The Journal was particularly upset during the last campaign when candidate Jerry Mays announced his ethics complaint against The Journal's favorite son, Sen. John Unger. I am always amazed when newspapers come out in opposition to the First Amendment guarantee of free speech, which they also do every time they support campaign finance restrictions. To many newspapers, freedom of speech should only apply to them. For the record, efforts to do what The Journal proposes have already been deemed unconstitutional......While I think state legislators should be paid more, Bob Adams, the House of Delegates candidate last year vs. Locke Wysong, points out to me that in New Hampshire, legislators are paid only $100 a year, and serve in session from January through June.