Fashions come and go... but being compared favorably to Presidents Kennedy and Reagan is something that today's Presidential candidates are trying to do again.
For many election cycles now, candidates have been trying to jump on the backs of these Presidents' legacies. I want a candidate who is not afraid to be his own man.
As a self-proclaimed Conservative, I am very disappointed by this race. No candidate from either party comes close to having what I would consider to be "true" Conservative values. My current party of choice has given us four major candidates (3 now that Guiliani left) and Ron Paul.
None of the Big 3 (Romney, McCain and Huckabee) has a consistent enough record to be considered a true conservative and they also have their big conservative no-no's.
Romney - Approving Massachusetts' socialized health-care system
McCain - His McCain-Feingold legislation restricted First Amendment Free Speech Rights
Also proposed a bill to give all illegal immigrants amnesty
Huckabee - Rush Limbaugh has said that Huckabee "is not a conservative" and his record as governor of Arkansas proves it
Ron Paul has many conservative views, but while a very intriguing candidate, is more of a libertarian. In today's mass media-driven culture, Paul is never going to be heard or taken seriously. Leaving us with, again, the Big Three...
Right now, the entire Big Three are all saying that they are the Reaganesque candidate. I heard Romney and McCain do it in their speeches Tuesday night, and have heard Huckabee do it in the past. They are trying to be SEEN as conservatives because their records don't show it.
Of the three, Romney appears not only to be the most conservative, but he would also make the best President. McCain is more liberal than many elected Democrats and Huckabee has a speckled record at best - and his only support seems to be coming from Chuck Norris.
This Tuesday, I had been planning on voting for Ron Paul to send a message to the media that they should not filter out candidates for us... but with the most liberal Republican (McCain) seeming to have the most momentum, Romney needs every vote he can get.
The Democrats are just as bad on the riding the coattails of legacy. Hillary, of course, has been riding her husband's (until it backfired last week). Obama seemingly has the endorsement of the entire Kennedy family and they're all telling us how much he reminds them of their Presidential relative.
I'm tired of America's "coattail" mentality. We need candidates who aren't afraid to be their own person. Until I find one, Romney is my candidate.
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