THE LITTLE VOICE



Some call it their ‘conscience.’

Others say it is the voice of God inside us.

Some call it the “Christ within.”

Many describe it as “that voice inside me that tells me what to do - and what not to do.”

Have you heard it?

Do you listen - or ignore it?



Many people do listen - and have had tremendous success following that ‘little voice.’

From making money to picking the right mate to changing careers to all sorts of decisions, listening to your conscience - or to the God within you - is one of the most powerful keys to a happy and successful life.

Along with it come other related skills: intuition, having a ‘feeling,’ having a ‘hunch.’ All these things are part of the same aspect of the love God has for each of us. He indeed speaks to you - if you are willing to listen.

A note: have you noticed lately in this society - for some reason - how so few people actually do listen? Instead they are on transmit - constantly talking at people, instead of engaging in a true back and forth.

The most dangerous question you can ask these days is: “How are you?” - which, in the past, was a throw-away ice-breaker that didn’t require an answer other than “fine.”

But now for some reason people want to tell you their whole life story at the drop of a hat!

Anyway, back to listening:

Wise people of faith know that - if you listen - God will help guide you through life. Knowing this is a joy because you are not alone! He is here - looking after you - and answering your prayers!

But the keys are: A) You have to believe; B) You have to ask; and C) You have to listen and then pay attention to the answer for it may not be what you expect or delivered how you expect it.



Do you really believe human beings - with the incredible bodies and minds and talents and skills that we have - were created by chance? By some random happenstance?

Or do you believe that we are indeed created in God’s image and have a divine purpose in life?

If you believe that, then ask yourself this: would God create people, plop them down on the Earth and abandon them? Or would He be available to help, to teach, and to guide. In Christianity, we believe that Mankind went so astray that God had to dispatch his only son to teach people how to live properly. And - even then - some of them rejected these teachings and tortured and killed this son!

So - some believe in God and some do not.

But if you do - and if you ask, you “shall receive.”

And part of your “receiving” is the privilege of hearing that Little Voice advising, recommending and guiding.

Trust it. Believe in it. Listen to it.

THE POLITICS OF PETREUS


Let us analyze the domestic political implications of General David Petreus’ and Ambassador Crocker’s Congressional testimony:


1) Clearly orchestrated by the Bush White House, the testimony’s goal is simple: hold enough GOP Senators and Representatives in line to guarantee that a veto of a Democratic-mandated troop cut will be upheld. Period.

2) The fact that Petreus and Crocker’s first media interview will be on Fox News with Brit Hume means the White House goal is just to play “to the base.” They don’t care about the Democrats, Independents or the public at large. This is simply a campaign to maintain President Bush’s ability to keep the troops there through January 20, 2009 - as he has said he’s do for the last year. (Remember the “I’ll stay even if only Barney the dog and Laura support me” statement?)

3) Brilliantly planned by Bush spin-meisters, the Bush White House has dominated this ‘to-cut-back-troops-or-not-to-cut-back-troops’ debate for the past month, culminating with the President’s surprise drop-in visit to Al Anbar Province last week. Team Bush has shaped and dominated the debate while Congress was on recess - and guaranteed that the ‘stay-at-current-troop-strength’ argument has won - for at least the next six months.

4) What effect does this have on 2008 politics?

Everything!

Going into the primaries and caucuses in January, Iraq is now certain to be the Number One issue - and will greatly affect both the GOP and the Democrat races.

5) In the Republican race, the main candidates all back the Bush Plan - even though 64% of the American people oppose it. But GOP primary voters still support the President and still want a hawkish policy toward Iraq.

So the GOP candidates - especially Rudy, Romney, McCain and now Fred Thompson - all echo Bush.

They seem not to care how this will damage or perhaps cripple them in the general election; right now these candidates will say and do anything just to get nominated. (The GOP race this year is indeed predicated on the fact that many on our side believe the Democrats will pick Hillary and then she will prove to be un-electable; Rudy and the others are just dying to run against Hillary as they ‘know’ she can be defeated in 2008 - even with the GOP - thanks to Bush - crippled and reduced to minority party status.)

6) The Democrats: Petreus’ Report will radicalize the Democrats even more. Why? Democratic voters and donors were already furious that the Democrat-controlled Congress hasn’t been able to stop Bush and the war. So they are now more likely to vote for an anti-war Democrat in the primaries.

Hillary - who was so hawkish she could have been a Republican back in 2002 because she wanted to disprove her life-long anti-Vietnam War/anti-military sentiments - senses this anger and has carefully tried to move Left into this ‘anti-war’ universe. Not all the lefties buy her ‘conversion,’ nor do they trust her.

Obama is ‘pure’ on the war: he was always against it. But he hasn’t proved to be the candidate they thought he’d be. He is more of a lightweight than they knew.

Edwards has flip-flopped on the war - but did it long enough ago that it hasn’t hurt him.

But Iraq - and the now-certain continuation of this war - will dominate the fall and early winter as we head into Iowa and New Hampshire.

And let us make no mistake about this: Iowa Democratic caucus-goers are both very liberal and very anti-war and very politically aware of everything.

Hillary - already trailing Edwards in Iowa - could lose Iowa on January 14th. If she does, that could greatly damage her.

7) The 2008 general election: Iraq - and a possible recession - will dominate the campaign. If we tip into recession, as some economists are now predicting, there is no telling what effect that will have on the race. Supposedly that will hurt the “party in power - the GOP.” But, in fact, both parties are in power these days - so who gets the blame for a recession?

8) As for Petreus: he arrived at Fort Myer last week with his senior staff - four PhDs and one Rhodes Scholar - to prepare for this week’s testimony.

That staff is worrisome: egg-head scholars are not the people we want fighting wars. We want warriors, not academics. This is all too reminiscent of Robert McNamara’s Best and the Brightest - who so screwed up Vietnam that we are still paying for it.

9) Politically, Iraq is a losing issue. Period. When 64% disagree with your policy, you are on the wrong side.

And when only 5% - that’s right - a paltry 5% trust the Bush White House to make the correct Iraq policy decisions, then you know the policy is going bad.


Petreus - who works for Bush and who must please Bush - has set the stage for continued divisiveness over Iraq.

Almost 5 years ago another General - Colin Powell - used (up) his credibility when he went to the UN and claimed hard evidence of Saddam’s WMDs.

It proved to be totally false.

Powell’s credibility was forever shattered.

Now comes another general - this time armed with fancy graphs and charts instead of sample vials of ‘anthrax’- who also is spending down his remaining capital to sell a policy that few are buying.

Conclusion: Iraq - like Vietnam in the 1960's and 1970's - is the dominant political issue of our time.

And nothing will change until the 2008 election. The question is this: will the American people ‘speak’ in that election about Iraq - or will anti-Hillary sentiment overcome Iraq as the issue? And will that election’s winners ‘hear’ the people?

Or will they mis-interpret the election results - especially a Rudy or a Romney - and read an anti-Hillary vote as a pro-war vote and thus continue a policy the majority of people no longer support.

What a mess!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE


OK. The summer is over. Labor Day has come and gone - and the 2008 campaigns are already in hyper-drive. Let’s analyze the present state of affairs in both parties:

The GOP:

This week, Fred Thompson announces - finally - online and on Jay Leno Wednesday night and Thursday, with trips to Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida included.

This will be a gigantic Yawn as Fred is a boring speaker with no internal fire and no passion. He is no Reagan - and is not the ‘savior’ the GOP desperately searches for. He isn’t even the ‘unifying conservative’ that the Right hopes him to be. He has a political tin-ear; his instincts should have made him join the race in June when he was Hot-Hot-Hot. By waiting - and having numerous stories about his wife running the campaign and canning numerous staffers - he has dissipated the excitement many felt about a Thompson candidacy three months ago.

The already-announced candidates will be debating up in New Hampshire on Wednesday night while Fred joins the race - too late.

The Republican field hasn’t changed much: Romney is ahead in Iowa and New Hampshire and is thus the front-runner to win the nomination despite anemic national poll numbers. (Those polls, by the way, are useless indicators of nothing; the key polls are state-by-state polls, and in the key first two states Romney is sitting pretty.)

Rudy Giuliani - by blowing off Iowa - has severely damaged his chances of winning the nomination as he faces two quick Romney victories. His Florida-is-my-make-or-break-state strategy is flawed; Iowa and New Hampshire will give Romney the Big Mo. Florida won’t counter-act that for Rudy.

McCain is done. Nothing more to say about this miserable figure who has done so much to hurt and demean others. Good riddance to McCain! I hope each election Night is agonizingly difficult for him.

Ron Paul? Had some mojo going until he blew it at the Iowa Straw Poll - and this week he couldn’t even beat Duncan Hunter in the Texas Straw Poll - in his home state! He’s all done. A good man with some good ideas - but he just isn’t a great candidate.

Mike Huckabee is the odds-on favorite to be anyone’s Vice Presidential choice because he is a southern, social conservative. He could still score some points for president, too, but where is he going to win even one primary?

So, as of the beginning of September, the GOP nomination is Romney’s to lose.

Interesting note: he has the highest negatives of any candidate in either party - followed by Hillary.

What if next year the race is between these two?

Can you just see the total disgust of the voters at having to choose between the two least-liked candidates?

The Democrats:

For John Edwards - and Hillary, too in an odd way - everything rides on Iowa.

Everything.

Why?

Because Edwards sees the race this way: Hillary is the inevitable nominee...she can’t lose...she may be the next president...she is the greatest thing ever! (So say her supporters and many in the So-Called Mainstream Media.)

Yes, she is way, way ahead in those national polls.

OK...so what happens if little ole John Edwards beats her in Iowa?

Doesn’t he become The Man? The Giant Killer?

And doesn’t his victory shatter her inevitability?

That is his thinking. And he may very well be right. Plus, he is strong in Iowa - and has been for years.

Plus, as we have seen in 2003/2004, Iowa Democratic caucus-goers actually calculate with their head as much as they vote with their hearts.

The liked Howard Dean in 2004 but calculated that he couldn’t/wouldn’t win a general election.

John Edwards - and his wife - are spreading the same message about Hillary all over Iowa: she is the one Democrat the Republicans want to run against! And, they say, look at the last two Democrats elected to the White House: Carter and Clinton, both southern, white moderates - just like John Edwards (so they say).

Hillary has been fighting back by doing what she always does: trotting out her husband, an enormously popular figure in Democratic circles. (A supposedly committed feminist, Hillary interestingly always hides behind and uses her man to help her.)

Barack Obama is also a factor in Iowa and New Hampshire. But it is Edwards who is gambling on a win in Iowa.

Would this be a fatal knock-out blow to Hillary?

Well, it would show her to be a lot more vulnerable than many want to accept - and would make many Democrats re-assess her electability in a general election.

Plus it would hurt her in New Hampshire, just eight days later.

That Big Momentum coming out of Iowa soars right up to the Granite State and makes these first two states almost the whole enchilada - especially now with all the other states just two weeks later on Tsunami Tuesday. And independents can vote in New Hampshire’s primaries - and who knows what they may do.

Conclusion: Romney is actually in better shape than many realize for the nomination - and Hillary teeters on Big Trouble should she lose Iowa.

So don’t buy any of this “the race is over” nonsense.

It hasn’t even begun.

As for the 2008 general election, the GOP starts off with huge problems - the biggest of which is in the Oval Office and is determined to keep us in Iraq through the end of his term.

But that is for another column.

First, we have to navigate the primaries.

And then there is the strong possibility of an Independent Third Candidate to tap into the widespread despair and anger out there and to take on both parties.

More on that soon.

SELFISH POLITICAL MACHINE(S)



Here is what we are seeing these days:

A Political Machine which is:

1) Ruthless is gaining - and keeping power;

2) Uses that power for selfish - personal - self-promotional purposes;

3) Happy to crush-slime-defame-lie about anyone who gets in their way - even members of their own party;

4) Happy to ‘milk’ their own political party for selfish reasons;

5) Not the least bit shameful about the fact that - once before - this same Political Machine had power and, when it left office, had left its party in shambles;

6) Has conned the so-called Mainstream Media into pulling back from criticisms and probes by threatening “loss of access” if any real scrutiny was pursued;

7) Has totally co-opted the party’s fund raising apparatus for its own sake - which often has left other candidates short on cash;

8) Is based on a total fraud - that the Head of this Political Machine is some sort of political savior or political genius; in fact, the Head of the Machine is a power-mad user of people. Period.

9) Curiously, this Political Machine has recently cozied up to its main rival and competitor. This new ‘friendship’ is another cynical step to solidify political power - and freeze out any other potential competitors;

10) This Machine - and its main rival - have virtually ruined this country. They have corrupted everything - and everyone - in their path(s). Yes, when out of office they profit by earning millions on the book and public speaking market. But - in their wake - they have left a shambles. Ruined aides, indicted friends, bankrupted former staffers.



Who - or What - is this Political Machine?

The Clinton Machine.

And.

The Bush Machine.

They are virtually inter-changeable!

One - the Clintons - basically owns the Democratic Party.

And the other - the Bushes - owns the Republican Party.

They each, in their own way, have ripped off and raped their own party for their own selfish purposes - and the party machinery has allowed it! (Remember that sorry spectacle of Republicans traipsing down to Austin in 1999 to ‘beg’ George W. Bush to run for President?)

The GOP is now paying a severe price for it: losing the House, Senate, many governorships and state houses; in 1994-2000, the Democrats paid for Bill and Hillary’s political and personal excesses by losing the House, Senate, many governorships and state houses - and finally the White House.

But these two Machines continue on.

Their parties suffer - but the Bushes and Clintons couldn’t care less. They are rolling in dough, laughing all the way to the bank - and just waiting to return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.



Our country is in grave trouble. And some of this is due to our government and our politicians.

The Clintons and the Bushes have rotted out our political system.

Until they are displaced and defeated - by a principled leader - not another greedy opportunist like a Giuliani in the GOP or an Edwards in the Democrat Party - we will not be able to repair our broken political system.

IOWA AND ROVE FALL-OUT



Let’s analyze all the latest GOP news:

1) Mitt Romney’s victory in the Iowa Straw Ballot was to be expected. Hell, he spent almost $482 per vote! But, to his credit, he had a game plan and he stuck to it. And he is now the odds-on winner in the January Iowa Caucuses. Plus, he is/was already ahead in New Hampshire - (where he has a home and was the governor of the neighboring state with the biggest media market) - and winning those first two contests will give him that elusive Big Mo everyone wants.

What Iowa really tells us is how weak the GOP field is and how dispirited the GOP voters are. The turnout was much lower than in 1999 - the last time one of these was held. The Enthusiasm Factor was way, way down; most straw ballot voters had left hours before the results were announced.

This mirrors the number of GOP donors this year. That number is also way, way down - as the number of Democratic donors is appreciably higher. This may be evidence of an Enthusiam Gap: GOP voters are ‘down’ while Democrats are Super-Enthused over their chances to re-capture the White House next year.

What else we learned from Iowa: the so-called ‘top tier’ candidates refused to participate - and there really are no stars in the field.

Yes, former Governor Mike Huckabee - a jovial and nice fellow - did very well with his second-place finish. And he earned himself new scrutiny as a possible ‘top tier’ candidate; he also is a strong Veep candidate. A Southern Christian conservative would fit well with a northerner like Romney or Rudy.

Ron Paul - the hottest online candidate - did quite poorly at only 9%.

Tom Tancredo came in 4th - and will keep running.

Tommy Thompson is dropping out.

McCain and Giuliani both did terribly. Yes, they didn’t participate - but they actually tried to pull a fast one. While staying out officially, they still campaigned all over Iowa in hopes of doing surprisingly well. It didn’t work at all. They both got creamed - and thus are already in Big Trouble for the January Caucuses.

Lesson: if you disrespect Iowa voters, they will not forget.

2) Rove’s Resignation: what does it mean? Well, the Bush Presidency is a dead volcano - and Bush’s Brain has run out of ideas. They were treading water anyway.

Rove is also entangled in several quiet federal investigations; this sudden resignation may be a result of those legal inquiries.

Do not believe this “spend more time with my family” baloney; that line is total hogwash.

There is more here than we know.

We will learn more in the next few days and weeks.

Politically, Rove will not advise any of the 2008 campaigns. They may ask, but he will stay away. Plus, he - and Bush - are almost radioactive these days and the 2008 GOP nominee will want to run as far away from Team Bush as possible. (Not that the Democrats will let him! The GOP nominee will be in tons of TV ads with old pix of him and Bush and in ads showing him ‘morphing’ into another George W. Bush.)

3) Fred Thompson to tour Iowa. Strange, really. Iowa was all the focus the last few weeks in the run-up to the Straw Ballot. Now everyone in the media either has left Iowa or gone on a much-needed August vacation - and here comes the ‘odd’ Fred Thompson campaign tour of Iowa.

The timing of this - and everything Thompson does and does not do - are indeed strange.

He is fading - and fast.

Conclusion: GOP primary voters - all across the country - continue to scratch their heads and ask, “Isn’t there somebody better out there?”

Indeed, there is a huge yearning for a new candidate - someone not even on the scene yet - someone to “ride to the rescue.”

There is still time - but it is running out - for another candidate.

Unless and until there is, the GOP will remain down and full of despair.

MORE 2008 DEVELOPMENTS



It’s August. It’s hot - very hot! It’s supposed to be a quiet time in politics.

But this year - because of the ridiculously advanced and compressed primary and caucus schedule next winter - the campaign season is already upon us - even in August.

Some recent developments:


1) This Saturday’s Iowa Straw Ballot: Rudy and McCain long ago dropped out of the event. Romney has spent millions to win it - including months of statewide TV ads. He is leading in the polls in Iowa - and should also win this event, which is a small test of organizational skill. The key? Buying thousands of tickets to this all-day affair and then busing in thousands of supporters to use the tickets thus becoming eligible to vote Saturday evening in the Straw Ballot.

What’s the point?

To earn a large national - Sunday AM - news headline: Romney Wins in Iowa.

That - and a leg up for the real vote next January 14th - is why these candidates are knocking themselves out for this Saturday’s event.

Rudy made a huge mistake in deciding to blow this off. This decision will hurt him Big Time all the way from now through January. He is now behind the eight-ball in Iowa and won’t catch up; he is ceding Iowa to others. Let’s just say Romney wins both the Straw Ballot and then in the real Caucuses in January. Then - a week later - Romney wins his neighboring New Hampshire Primary. That’s two huge wins in the first two contests. Can you imagine the Big Mo he will have?

And Rudy - who has been ahead in these national name ID polls for a year - suddenly has lost the only two contests we have. How does he look then? Does he look like a winner? Or do voters scramble over to Romney?

Or does the race just deteriorate into various winners in different states on the Mega Super Tuesday - February 5th.

Rudy has planned all along that Florida’s January 31 primary will be the beginning of his string of victories ( he has polled well there - perhaps due to the influx of retirees from the northeast - but his numbers have declined lately). But by then he will have lost several states.

In the end, he may regret not competing in Iowa all the way - including this Saturday.

Assuming Romney wins the Straw Ballot, the second and third place finishers will also get a boost. Who will they be?

Will Ron Paul’s incredible on-line success translate to real votes on paper?

Can one of the other second-tier group do something to separate themselves from the pack?

2) In the midst of this event come more and more signs of ambivalence from the Fred Thompson Camp. Stories abound about his wife’s role inside the campaign. It seems as if she wants him to run more than he wants to run.

He has already peaked; his decline has begun - and all before he even has announced his candidacy.

3) One other GOP note: the more the Republican candidates flounder, the more likely it is that Newt Gingrich will flirt with entering the race.

Newt is provocative; he is entertaining. He makes news. But he is unelectable because he is undisciplined and overly egotistical - and he already blew it once when he took the 1994 Republican Revolution and morphed it into the Gingrich Revolution.

He is great at throwing a hundred ideas up on the wall to see which ones work and which don’t.

But he is not a leader who can unite the party and, more importantly, the nation, which craves someone who can indeed “bring us together.”

The Democrats:

1) Hillary as the front-runner is a nightmare for many people - both Democrats and Republicans. Why? Because she might be the one Democrat who so scares a dispirited, divided GOP into pulling itself together behind its ticket just to keep her - and Bill - out of the White House.

It is said that many social conservatives will just stay home rather than vote for a pro-choice candidate like Rudy Giuliani. That may be true. But the specter of the Clintons back in the White House may also energize the GOP Base like nothing we have ever seen.

2) A Hillary/Obama Ticket: this is all-the-talk these days. Many are predicting it.

Let’s analyze: what does Obama bring to Hillary’s ticket that she wouldn’t have anyway?

Illinois?

Nope. She, too, grew up there and it is solidly democrat anyway.

The African American vote? Nope. She will get 89-92% of that vote anyway in a general election. In fact, any Democrat will get that percentage in a general.

A wave of young and disenchanted ‘new’ voters who will help swamp the GOP in the general election? Maybe. Maybe there is a ‘hidden wave’ of super-angry-at-the-GOP/Bush voters who are dying to come out in November of 2008 and stick it to the GOP. But will these voters only do it if Obama is on the ticket? That remains to be seen.

It seems more likely if Hillary is the nominee - and we still have a long way to go before that is certain - that she needs some sort of balance on her ticket - either geographical or ideological.

She needs to ‘get’ something through her Veep candidate that she wouldn’t get otherwise.

Florida? Can she win it on her own? If not, if she took Senator Bill Nelson as her running mate would that give her a good shot at winning this crucial state?

What about Bill Richardson - an Hispanic governor of a southwestern state? He may help bring not only New Mexico but also Nevada, Arizona and perhaps even Colorado - all usually GOP states in Presidential elections.

By the way, this same thinking applies to the GOP. Some opine that Rudy would pick Romney as his running mate. Why? What does Romney give the ticket? He can’t and won’t even win his home state of Massachusetts.

Others mention a Rudy/McCain ticket. Oh really? McCain so turns off the GOP base that these two together are just inviting a third candidate - a Perot-type - to run in the general just to spite the GOP. Plus McCain brings nothing to the ticket. His once-vaunted ‘independence’ has been frittered away on Iraq and amnesty for illegals; he is now seen as an out-of-control war hawk who, combined with Rudy, would make this ticket seem out of the American mainstream on Iraq.


Conclusion: The GOP race is much less ‘developed’ than the democrat race. The fact that an un-announced candidate - Fred Thompson - could have risen in the polls without ever even announcing is proof of the yearning inside the GOP for a new candidate who is a mainstream conservative without all this marital and personal baggage. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet found that candidate - and Thompson is clearly disappointing most people by his odd non-campaigning.

The Democratic race is clearly a Hillary-Obama race, with John Edwards needing desperately to win Iowa (where he has been doing very well for three years) to get back into the mix.

Out of it all, the country wants to find someone who makes at least an effort to re-unite us all as Americans first and partisans second.

Hillary cannot do this - and will never be able to. The very minute she takes office 45-50% will oppose her. And that will never change. She is a polarizing figure - just the way G.W. Bush has become polarizing.

Can a nation of 300 million people only elect presidents now from two families?

Are the two main political parties the wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Bushes and the Clintons?

Until this changes, we - as a nation - are in for more years of division and disgust.

POLITICAL NOTES



Let’s take the beginning of August to step back and examine some political developments:

1) Fred Thompson - before he has even announced his candidacy - is beset with difficulties:

He did not raise the amount of money his backers expected for his Exploratory Committee - and this should be easy because the first money a candidate raises is from his closest supporters, past donors and associates; the fact that he couldn’t even meet his own internal goal of $5 million (he raised about $3.5 million) shows Big Trouble for Thompson.

He has already had a major staff shake-up - further evidence of a troubled campaign - and he hasn’t even announced his candidacy yet!

Many already speculate that Thompson will announce in September and “drop out of the race by November.”

He may already have peaked this summer - and already be on the decline.

Plus, the more voters see him, the less impressed they will be.


2) The GOP race: with Thompson’s desultory performance and a reduced sense of enthusiasm for his candidacy, where does that leave things today?

McCain is a goner. Period. Gone. Finished. Kaput. Yeah, the MSM still gives him more credence than he deserves, but inside the GOP we know it is over for him.

That leaves Romney and Rudy Giuliani as of today.

Romney’s second quarter fund raising was way, way down - a worrisome indicator that people are cooling on him. The Mormon question and the flip-flopping are hurting him. He is doing very well in Iowa and his neighboring New Hampshire (he actually lives in New Hampshire) - because he has spent heavily already on TV advertising there. But there is not much enthusiasm for him, either.

Rudy has basically abandoned Iowa; he blew off the upcoming Iowa Straw Ballot. He is trailing in New Hampshire. He seems to be gambling on the Florida Primary to give him the momentum into Mega-Super Tuesday.

Rudy is strange...he has some strengths...but is fraught with trouble, too. He doesn’t fit the GOP at all...but there is such a vacuum on the Right that anything can happen.

Romney and Rudy.

Can the GOP really be this desperate?

Or can another candidate emerge who can excite a moribund, dispirited GOP?

No doubt Ron Paul excites libertarians and will surprise at the Iowa Straw Ballot. But he isn’t The One. He is a good guy, a bit old, no TV pizzazz, which is a must these days, and isn’t going to win the GOP nomination.

Newt - undisciplined and unelectable - keeps trolling to see if there is interest in him yet. He is provocative and entertaining and makes news. But he isn’t the answer either.

No wonder the party - and the conservative movement - are down in the dumps. Bush wooed everyone and then sold our principles down the river.

We need someone exciting - who through his or her presence - turns the GOP on and makes us proud again.

Yeah, if Hillary is the Democratic nominee we’ll all band together to vote against her. But wouldn’t it also be wonderful to have someone to vote for?

We need a new start - and soon.

3) The Democrats: don’t buy into this “Hillary is inevitable” nonsense. Yes, she does well today in these name-ID national polls. But in individual states she is in trouble. She trails in Iowa and South Carolina and is tied with Obama in New Hampshire.

As the presumptive front-runner, to lose in these early states will doom her candidacy. When a front-runner stumbles, it is magnified. And she may be in for a stumble.

Obama has finally started to take the gloves off - while John Edwards is so prissy he has his wife attack Hillary for him.

Meanwhile Hillary has Bill Clinton answer Obama for her.

What kind of candidates are these?

Can’t they do their own campaigning?

Why do their spouses have to do it for them?

It’s pretty weak - and the Republicans can use it against them later on. For example, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says something awful is our next President’s husband or wife going to do the responding?

How weak and pathetic.