. 

Mitt Romney    The former Governor of one of the “Bluest” states in America has the good looks and sparkle to appear presidential.  He is articulate, intelligent, and well- versed on issues important to the American people.  Romney earns points for being a successful businessman, but loses points for attending the Leftist Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School after obtaining his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.  As a one-term governor Romney has more public executive experience than our current president, and has almost as much private executive experience as President Obama’s entire cabinet combined.   Romney has oscillated between Conservative and Moderate and has a reputation of being a philosophical chameleon in order to win an election.  He is on record as a supporter of ethanol subsidies and has sadly taken the bait on the man-made climate change myth.

Debate Performance:  Thus far in the GOP debates, Mitt Romney has done nothing to diminish his chances of securing the GOP nomination, but he has not separated himself from the pack either.  Romney has displayed the aesthetic and articulate attributes of what most believe to be presidential.  Romney remains in a battle of words with GOP hopeful and Texas Governor, Rick Perry.  It will be interesting to see if Mr. Romney shifts his focus to the rapidly rising Herman Cain in the coming weeks.

Electability: The former Governor from Massachusetts has the polished image to become president and he certainly could hold his own in a debate with the Alinsky-trained Barack Obama. However, there are a few “red flags” in his record, such as his health care legislation he signed into law in Massachusetts and his stance on man-made climate change, as well as his positional changes on issues like abortion.  His record suggests that he is more of a Moderate Republican than a Conservative one, but as a Republican in a state as Liberal as Massachusetts, it is hard to predict how he would govern as president with at least one Republican-controlled congressional body. 

In the early days of the 2012 campaign the national press seemed  to favor Romney over most of the other GOP challengers, which is a giant “red flag” just as it was when John McCain was the media darling of the GOP in 2008 until the general election, when the national media turned on him to get Obama elected. After lecturing America that religion should not be a factor in electing a president when JFK and Obama were running, they have been continually planting the seed recently with articles “wondering if the American people are ready to elect a Mormon”.  They have gone as far as calling it a “weird religion”, this after they entirely ignored Obama’s Muslim upbringing and the weird religion Obama claimed to be part of more recently as he sat for twenty years in the pews of the extremely weird and anti-American Reverend Jeremiah Wright.  Though Religion should never be a factor in elections, it is apparent the media is intent in making it one in the case of Mitt Romney since they are keenly aware he possesses the appeal and demeanor to easily beat our failed president.
 

Conservative Rating: 

Herman Cain   A relative newcomer to presidential politics, Mr. Cain is the embodiment of the American Dream.  From humble beginnings in Atlanta, Georgia, Herman Cain resisted the call from the inner city streets to become the first in his family to earn a college degree – a mathematics degree from Morehouse College in 1967.  Cain then earned his Master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University while also working full-time developing fire control systems for U.S. Navy ships and fighter planes.  Cain began his private business career as a computer analyst for the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta.  Mr. Cain moved to the Pillsbury Company and quickly rose to Vice President of Burger King, then a Pillsbury division.  There he led an underperforming region of 450 stores to become the top-performing region in the chain.  Cain was elevated to president and CEO of Pillsbury’s Godfather’s Pizza chain, where he returned to company to profitability within 14 months.  Mr. Cain also served as head of the large restaurant lobbying group, the National Restaurant Association, where he led the challenge against President Clinton’s “Hillarycare” health care agenda. 
 

Serving as the chairman of the board for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, provided Mr. Cain an insider’s view of the mysterious workings of our Federal Reserve System.

 
Although Herman Cain has no public record as an elected official, if we take him at his word to ascertain his political philosophy, which may be a tenuous proposition after witnessing Obama’s presidency, Cain appears to be a solid, unapologetic Conservative whose passion for returning America to greatness is infectious.
 

Debate Performance:  Herman Cain comes across as a genuine and likeable guy.  In the debates thus far, Cain has performed well.  He has an ability to articulate his vision for America in a plain and simple way, and it is hard to argue with his premise of economic growth and his 9-9-9 Plan, which will serve to more equitably spread the tax burden to include more  American stakeholders and create a more job-friendly landscape.  What matters to people most is economic improvement.   In a debate setting where a candidate has to mainly speak in one-minute sound bytes, Cain delivers a credible, albeit general message.  Herman Cain has remained a consistently strong performer in debates to date.

Electability:  Herman Cain is currently enjoying the backing of the Tea Parties and has a compelling rags-to-riches story to tell.  With never having held public office, the national media will attack his lack of government experience while downplaying his enormous breadth of executive experience.  Like Obama, Cain is a Black American but unlike him, Cain does not look to government as the answer for every problem.  Also, unlike Obama, Cain has been forced to provide an alibi for himself during the Civil Rights Movement.  For the Left to continue to label Conservatives as “racists,” it must diminish Cain’s “Blackness.”  The tactic that seems to work for the Left is to attack a Black Conservative’s lack of involvement in Civil Rights protests, while knowing full well that only a minority of Blacks ever participated in protests.  Herman Cain was participating in the most crucial aspect of the Civil Rights Movement; he was busy improving his lot in life by getting an education.  After all, ensuring that Black Americans had the same access to the path to prosperity that Whites did is what the Civil Rights Movement was all about. 

Herman Cain is the embodiment of the Civil Rights Movement.  Instead of labeling him as a “boot licking Uncle Tom,” as so many Black leaders have, shouldn’t Mr. Cain be thanked for showing Black Americans a way to prosperity and assimilation? 
The fact that so many Black Americans are steadfast against a Herman Cain presidency is proof positive that Mr. Cain is correct when he states that Black Americans have been “brainwashed by the Democrat Party.”   Just as the real “Uncle Tom” led slaves from the plantations of Kentucky to freedom in Canada, Herman Cain can lead Black Americans from the plantations of the Democrat Party to the freedom of economic prosperity and independent thought.

Each election year we hear the cries to elect an experienced businessman to solve our economic problems and create jobs, but we rarely get those candidates in a presidential election.  Herman Cain may be the perfect outsider at a time we need one most. 
 

Conservative Rating: 

Michelle Bachmann   The current Minnesota Congresswoman is the leader of the House Tea Party Caucus.   She is one of the nation’s leading tax attorneys and a successful business owner.  Bachmann is a mother of five children of her own, and 23 additional foster children.  She claims to be a Constitutional Conservative, and her public record supports her claim.  Having earned degrees from Winona State University, Oral Roberts University and College of William and Mary, Bachmann has avoided the lure of the Ivy League indoctrination centers. 
 

As a former Minnesota state senator (2000-2006), Bachman fought for legislation to protect traditional marriage and lower taxes.  She is a staunch Pro-lifer and strongly opposes Gay Marriage.   Bachmann has been on the right side of almost every issue that has come before her in the U.S. Congress, and believes that most solutions do not involve the government.  She has consistently supported a pro-growth agenda, including domestic oil and gas exploration, tort reform, reducing corporate tax rates to lure corporate manufacturing facilities back to America, and most importantly, she sees the man-made global warming hysteria as the hoax that it is.

Debate Performance:  After a strong performance in the first Fox News GOP debate, Michelle Bachmann proved adept at fending off some verbal barbs launched by Governor Pawlenty.  She made it clear what she would do immediately if elected president, and based on her actions as a congresswoman, there is no reason to doubt her.  Bachmann missed an opportunity to counter Pawlenty’s claim that she has failed to get results by giving him a civics lesson on how Congress works.  She was somewhat unclear on why she voted against raising the debt ceiling.  While we agree with her in principle, she could have presented a stronger defense of her vote. 

In the Tampa and Orlando debates, Bachmann has failed to differentiate herself from the others, perhaps due to her failure to give a direct answer to questions. Thus far, she has suffered no self-inflicted wounds, but didn’t do much to help her cause either.

Electability:   The National Media have not been kind to the Congresswoman, often misrepresenting her words and positions, engaging in extreme hyperbole to make her appear uninformed.  However, she is an intelligent, hard-working member of Congress, who keeps herself abreast of the important issues of our time.  During the GOP debate in New Hampshire as the only female candidate, she held her own against the men and some say she was the clear winner.  Bachmann is not as articulate as Mitt Romney, and her Minnesota accent is far more pronounced than fellow Minnesotan, Tim Pawlenty, which may turn off the elitists much like Sarah Palin’s accent does. 

The 2012 election will be undoubtedly about economics, placing social issues in a subordinate position.  Hopefully, Congresswoman Bachmann will recognize this early and focus primarily on economic growth.  It is unlikely that a member of Congress can be elected to the Oval Office, but Bachmann would be a solid choice as a Vice Presidential running mate for the eventual GOP nominee.
 

Conservative Rating:  

Rick Santorum   The former Congressman and Senator from Pennsylvania served two terms each in the House and the Senate.  His reputation is that of an unabashed social Conservative, a champion of traditional family values and right-to-life legislation.  As a U.S. Congressman, Santorum worked to uncover fraud, abuse and waste in the federal government.  As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he was an advocate for a strong military and for improving the living conditions of our military families.  A staunch supporter of the War on Terror, Santorum was one of the few sitting senators to correctly identify it as a “war against radical Islam.”    Rick Santorum has held leadership positions in both the House and the Senate.  He helped author and pass the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, among other fiscal legislation which led to the creation of the Clinton budget surplus in the 1990s.  In 2005, Santorum penned a New York Times Best Seller It Takes a Family, a Family Values antithesis to Hillary Clinton’s It Takes a Village.  Santorum earned his B.A. from Penn State University, his M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, and his J.D. from Dickinson School of Law.

Debate Performance:  After a somewhat unmemorable performance in the first debate, Santorum was considerably more assertive in the second.  He remains entrenched with the social conservatives but likely lost any chance of securing the GOP nomination by alienating the social moderates with his strong stance on making abortion illegal.  Economically, Santorum made some good points about the need to work with Democrats on policy initiatives, but in these economic times where the two sides are so polarized on solutions, his words served as a deathblow to his campaign.

Electability:  Upon examination of his record, it is rare to find a case where Senator Santorum has been on the wrong side of an issue.  He was once a rising star in the Republican Party, until the National Media collectively attacked his positions on Homosexuality and the Terri Schiavo case.   In 2006, the National Media stepped up the attacks on Santorum when it became apparent he would be in a tight re-election campaign with Democrat Bob Casey, Jr.  Santorum lost his bid for a third term in a landslide to Casey.  In 1996, Santorum supported Moderate Senator (then Republican) Arlen Specter for president, a decision which may hurt him with Conservative voters, as Specter has since revealed his true allegiance and switched to the Democratic Party.  It is a stretch for Santorum to be considered a true contender in 2012.  In the 1990s it was an advantage to be known more as a social conservative when an amoral president occupied the White House.  In today’s depressed economy, fiscal conservatism and job creation are the foremost issues with GOP voters, and Santorum will have to become much more aggressive and innovative in these areas for his message to resonate with voters.  There are also claims by the Left-leaning, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), of Santorum misusing campaign contributions.  These claims have not been proven, however.   Currently, Santorum remains a long shot for the GOP nomination.

Conservative Rating:    

Ron Paul   Congressman Paul fancies himself as a Libertarian within the Republican Party.   His media portrayal is that of a kooky old man with crazy, outdated ideas, when in reality Dr. Paul is a highly intelligent reformer with time-tested ideas rooted in constitutional conservatism.  The Congressman could learn a few things about running an election campaign from President Obama, like misrepresenting his positions in order to get elected.  The criticisms levied against Ron Paul show just how far our nation has strayed from the Constitution and its founding principles.  On the surface, the Congressman’s stances on certain issues appear to be extreme, but they all can be supported by the Constitution. 

With a B.S. Degree from Gettysburg College and a M.D. from Duke University, Paul served as a U.S. Air Force flight surgeon during the Vietnam War until 1968, and then moved to Texas and practiced obstetrics and Gynecology.  In the early 1970s, Dr. Paul was drawn to politics, motivated by then President Nixon’s complete removal of the U.S. Dollar from the gold standard.  Paul was greatly influenced by economist Friedrich Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, as well as the works of Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises.   Paul authored his own books about his economic philosophy.   In 1981, his book Gold, Peace and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency was published and was quickly followed by The Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the U.S. Gold Commission (1982). He expressed his pro-life and anti-federal government views in 1983's Abortion and Liberty. 

Ron Paul’s congressional career has been intermittent since 1976, serving as a Congressman from East Texas; he supported term limits, ending congressional pensions, abolishing the Federal Reserve and returning to the Gold Standard.  Paul opposed reinstating the military draft in 1980 when President Carter favored it.  Ron Paul is one of the few members of Congress to pledge not to receive a congressional pension.   His record as a U.S. Representative is a lengthy one, and it is also a consistent one.  Paul has remained true to our nation’s founding principles throughout his career and has a solid record to support his views.

Debate Performance:  In the first Fox News debate, Ron Paul made some very solid points on the constitutional role of the federal government.  In the second debate however, Congressman Paul went over the top with his rhetoric on issues ranging from state’s rights to a nuclear-armed Iran.  In more recent debates, the Congressman has been on the right side of most issues, but watching him deliver his message can be uncomfortable. Paul was always a long shot for the nomination, but he enjoys much support from disaffected Libertarians, and the drug legalization crowd, both young and old.  His performance in the debates however, will solidify his position as a long shot.

Electability:   The majority of American people are too busy, too lazy, or too shallow to fully understand Ron Paul’s philosophy on the issues of the day.  Instead, the media-created caricature of Paul is how most people view him.  His position on legalizing drugs and prostitution is given far more attention than his ideas on fiscal policy and the role of the Federal Government.   Congressman Paul is far from today’s slick, polished politician who will go to great lengths to appeal to the masses.  Paul is a throwback to a bygone era of honest, respectable politicians who serve the people for the honor of doing so rather than to personally enrich themselves.  Ron Paul is not the articulate orator or debater that Mitt Romney or even Barack Obama is, but the American people can trust him to stay true to his guiding principles, which at one time were guiding principles shared by the overwhelming majority of Americans.   Prior to the Progressive movement in American government, Ron Paul would be a viable, if not preferred presidential candidate.  However, with too many people vested in a bloated federal government and the idea of America policing the world, Dr. Paul has little if any chance to win a national election.

Conservative Rating:   

Newt Gingrich   The Gingrich-led Republican Revolution of 1994 took Capitol Hill by storm and was a noteworthy event in American politics.  The national media however, did not share the exuberance of the majority of Americans.  The media’s daggers where immediately sharpened and aimed squarely at the bright and energetic new House Speaker, Newt Gingrich.  Every word spoken by the new Speaker, the first Republican Speaker in four decades was analyzed, scrutinized, and eventually misrepresented in media reports.  This was at a time when there was not even the shred of balance to the left-leaning national press that there is today.  Eventually, the media won its battle with Newt and successfully exiled him to private life with a stained legacy.   However, as one of the more influential House Speakers of our time, Congressman Gingrich successfully reined in the uber- left agenda of the Clintons, forcing a more fiscally responsible approach from the President.

With a Bachelor’s degree from Emory University and Master’s and Doctorate in Modern European History from Tulane University, it is hard to find a better-versed politician on World History than Newt Gingrich.  As a former professor of History and Environmental Studies, Gingrich’s delivery is more lecture than sound bites.  He represented Georgia in Congress for twenty years, including four years as House Speaker, and had a penchant for getting things done.  The former Speaker has angered some Conservatives with his willingness to cozy up to the Left for causes he believes in.  He has appeared at times to moderate his conservatism – whether it is part of an image makeover or not remains to be seen.  Newt has authored thirteen New York Times bestsellers and 23 books in total. He and his wife, Callista, currently host and produce documentary films.

Debate Performance:  According to our theoretical scorecard, Newt Gingrich was the clear winner of the second Fox News GOP debate.  Every answer he gave, from his historical references to his assault on the latest debt reduction legislation, was soundly based on Conservative principles.  Gingrich rightfully retaliated against the “Gotcha” questions from the media panel.  He also clearly and succinctly laid out his plan to turn around the economy by pushing for the repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and ObamaCare immediately.  Newt called Americans  to action immediately by stressing the importance of pressuring Congress to act now and not eighteen months from now.  Gingrich helped himself immensely with his performance in the second debate.  He was genuine, he was passionate, he was articulate, and he was consistent.  All traits that make a formidable opponent to the Democratic dogma. 
 

In subsequent debates, Gingrich continues to serve as the great educator to the viewers, the moderators and the other candidates on the stage with him.  His answers are always informative and concise, and he is one of the few who will answer the question asked of him.

Electability:   In the 1990s, Newt became a lightning rod for media criticism of the GOP.  It is difficult to imagine Newt Gingrich winning the GOP nomination, not for a lack of qualifications or intelligence but simply due to the portrait of Newt created by the Media and how that portrait permeated the consciousness of the American people.  Gingrich would be an outstanding policy advisor to any GOP president.  In that role he could work behind the scenes using his remarkable intellect and knowledge to shape economic and foreign policy.

Conservative Rating: 

Jon Huntsman   The former Utah Governor has served in the administrations of four U.S. presidents.  He served as a staff assistant for Ronald Reagan, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Ambassador to Singapore for George H.W. Bush, as Deputy United States Trade Representative for George W. Bush, and as United States Ambassador to China for Barack Obama.

As Utah’s Governor, Huntsman cut taxes by more than $400 million - the largest in the state’s history, while still balancing the state’s budget.  The Pew Research Center named Huntsman’s Utah the “Best Managed State in America.”  Utah remains as one of the top “Business Friendly” states in the U.S.

A high school dropout, Huntsman earned his GED while pursuing his dream of playing the keyboards in a rock band.  He later attended the University of Utah before transferring to the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he received a bachelor’s degree in International Politics.

Jon Huntsman joins Mitt Romney as a Mormon presidential candidate, although the national media seem to be less concerned about Huntsman being a Mormon than Romney.  Huntsman labels himself as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate.

While his record on fiscal matters is solidly conservative, Huntsman’s stance on issues such as a healthcare mandate, so-called green energy and man-made climate change is troubling to most Conservatives.  Huntsman’s willingness to serve under  the most liberal and divisive president in our nation’s history shows he is able to place partisan differences aside.  Is this what Republicans want in a presidential hopeful who will be called upon to reverse the direction of the current administration? 

Debate Performance:  Absent from the first debate, Governor Hunstman attempted to make his presence known in the second debate, and he failed.  Without an intelligible plan or even an outline of a plan to turn around the economy, he appeared ill-prepared and resorted to his fall-back position of running on his record as Utah Governor.  While the questions he received barely delved into his stance on certain issues which have Conservatives concerned, like Climate Change and domestic energy exploration/production.  While the RINOs and the national media will continue with their “McCain pump-and-dump” tactics to prop up Huntsman’s campaign, he is practically nonexistent to Conservatives.
 
Electability:   Despite the outcry of welcome from the national media, Huntsman remains a long shot for the GOP nomination.  His comparative lack of name recognition is currently an obstacle, but money (he has plenty of it himself) and a friendly mainstream media can help him overcome this.  More importantly, Huntsman is not a Tea Party favorite, which will be a key factor in the GOP primaries.  Perceived as a Moderate, he could likely do well in the general election but in primary season, a candidate must appeal strongly to his base, which in this case is the conservative Right.  Expect a McCain-like “pump-and-dump” from the Left-wing national media and the establishment RINOs.
 

Conservative Rating: 

Rick Perry:  The Texas Governor, who was once a Democrat, was a comparatively late entry into the GOP race but made a big splash by becoming the immediate frontrunner in the major polls.   Governor Perry has a degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University.  After college, Perry entered the U.S. Air Force to fly C-130 tactical airplanes. 

As Governor, Perry’s Texas has led the nation in job creation.  While the rest of the nation was mired in some of the worst economic times since the Great Depression, the state of Texas was still growing.  From the start of the Great Recession through 2010, 45% of the nation’s job growth occurred in Texas.  Texas is one of only three states that has more net jobs now than when the recession began in 2007.  Of course governors do not create private sector jobs; rather they can create the business climate within their state to enable job creation.  Texas is doing so well relative to other states precisely because it has rejected the economic model that now prevails in Washington.  Texas stands out for its free market and business-friendly climate; a direct result of Governor Perry’s economic policies.

Rick Perry recently released his energy and economic plan, which consists of four basic tenets:
1. Expand energy exploration offshore and on federal lands across the country, creating 1.2 million jobs while enhancing America’s energy independence.
2. Roll back all Obama’s EPA regulations, saving 2.4 million jobs by 2020 and lowering projected costs by $127 billion.
3. Return authority to the states. 
4. Allow a free market in the energy industry.  Ending the Obama Administration’s practice of picking winners and losers by subsidizing non-viable energy sources.  Ending the Obama Administration’s war on coal and natural gas production.

As one would expect from a Texan, Perry’s plan is heavy on propping up the energy sector of the economy, which is the quickest and best way to ignite a sluggish economy and create jobs.

Debate Performance:  Having entered the race with much fanfare and enthusiastic support, Perry has been mostly disappointment in the debates to date.  His message is a bit incoherent – almost every answer he gives is positioned as a state’s rights issue.  Specifics on Perry’s plans have been sparse at best, and he appears to mentally fade toward the end of a debate. 

Perry has been bogged down in a counter-productive debate battle with Mitt Romney, which has diverted his focus on targeting the real culprit for the lack of economic recovery: Barack Obama.  Now that Perry has given way to Herman Cain in the polls, perhaps he can disengage himself from the battle with Romney.

Electability:  Governor Perry was catapulted to the top of the polls as soon as he announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination.  However, lukewarm debate performances and a few questionable decisions he made as governor, have dropped Perry to a distant third in the polls currently.  Perry has truly Conservative ideas, and the country is ripe for his ambitious energy strategy after almost three years of energy roadblocks put in place by the Obama Administration.  A major obstacle facing Rick Perry is his similarities to George W. Bush, although Perry appears to be a bit more Conservative than Bush, and he is certainly more articulate.  Another attribute Perry possesses that Bush did not, is his willingness to defend his political positions and his character.  As a politician, Perry could be a bit more artful with his answers in the debates, but perhaps it is more refreshing to hear him speak from the heart, even if he fumbles an answer or two along the way.

 
Rick Perry can become a political heavyweight and pose a major challenge to the other GOP contenders with a bit more polish and a more focused campaign, like Herman Cain’s.

Conservative Rating: