Iowa Primary Eve and the GOP

So we are on the eve of the Iowa Primary and for me personally it is very exciting! With all the campaigning that has already been going on, we should start to begin to see some results tomorrow as to who the voters as leaning towards. Up to this point, I have yet to officially decided whom I am supporting. I figured that with the way things have been going, the political landscape would change from one day to the next and I have not been disappointed. From what looked like a Fred Thompson movement to a rising Huckabee campaign, it has been one interesting ride, and we haven’t even left the garage yet.

Despite all this, I have been recently been coming to some conclusions about the presidential candidates. First, as much as I honor John McCain as a war veteran, I have not seen him as my conservative candidate. This may just be my perception because recently I read that he has a 83% rating from the American Conservative Union. We will see how does tomorrow.

Second, if the only thing that the President was responsible for was national security, my candidate would be Giuliani in a millisecond. This is not the case, so I have had a hard time seeing myself supporting him during the primaries. His social stances are so far removed from conservatism that, I would feel as if I were sacrificing them for national security.

Third, the charming man from the south Huckabee has been gathering a lot of attention recently. I definitely have taken a hard look at him to see if I could find the conservative torchbearer this country needs. What I found was another “compassionate conservative” in the mold of Bush. As time goes on, I see more and more of his big government “conservatism” philosophy coming out. If the no child left behind act and soft immigration policies is your thing, I believe Huckabee is your man.

That leaves Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson. From everything that I can see, Fred Thompson is the closes thing to a conservative as I can find in this race. If he can overcome the image the media has created as a passive candidate and do well in the coming primaries, he could very well become my candidate. On the face of it, media is painting that as unlikely. And this leaves Mr. Romney. As many conservatives do, we wonder whether his current positions are birthed of a conversion to conservatism or pragmatism. Everyday he becomes more and more an appealing candidate considering the current field.

The saddest thing is that my choice candidate probably has less of a chance of winning than Ron Paul and that is Duncan Hunter.

All in all, this election year I do not see anyone resembling the conservative ideas torchbearer that Reagan was. I see many candidates trying to convince people they are conservatives, yet a true conservative torchbearer would be more concerned about promoting the ideas rather than convincing people they are for the ideas. I am optimistic that one day, maybe not this election, that torchbearer will arise. At the least, I plan to do everything in my power to be that torchbearer in the spheres of influence that God gives me.

P.S. As a conservative who holds to the idea of Reagan, I appreciate Ron Paul’s campaign in the election. Though I believe the libertarian philosophy overlooks the restrains of biblical morality, I believe his devotion to liberty and the Constitution has challenge people to reconsider what a conservative is.