I hope that Obama wins the democratic primary so I have the chance to vote for him in the general election as I think he is the best democratic candidate, (though i hope Bill Richardson is the winning democrat’s VP). Also I have a feeling we’ll have the option of a Bloomberg/Hagel ticket by next November. I’ll be very happy with our political system if my choices are between McCain, Obama, and Bloomberg as I think they would all make excellent Presidents.

The candidate you’re looking for is Chris Dodd.

You’re looking for “the strength and chutzpah to stand up and fight when necessary.” That’s Dodd. And he’ll stand against his own party’s spineless leadership when necessary.

Just last week, Dodd almost single-handedly blocked Harry Reid’s attempt to give the White House their most wished-for Christmas present – retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that have been abetting the Bush administration in their illegal domestic spying program for years.

There were two potential FISA revision bills, one that included immunity and one that did not. Reid incomprehensibly brought to the floor the one that included the immunity deal that the majority of Americans oppose. When Dodd put a hold on the bill, Reid – who has honored every single hold put on a bill by Republicans – inexplicably and for the first time refused to honor Dodd’s hold.

So Dodd declared his intent to filibuster.

When Republicans ‘filibuster’, all they have to do is say that ‘I’m going to filibuster’, and the bill they’ve magically filibustered dies. Dodd was going to have to do it the old-fashioned way – by standing in the Senate and talking for hours.

He had several other supporters of the Constitution on the floor ready to back him up – but none of the other presidential candidates who’d earlier professed to ‘support’ Dodd’s filibuster bothered to show up. Their ‘support’ consisted of flabby statements of support issued from Iowa, rather than supporting where it really counted, on the Senate floor.

After eight hours, Reid pulled the bill, but has promised to bring it back in January. And Dodd has pledged to filibuster any bill that contains retroactive immunity.

Clinton, Obama, and Biden talk a lot about their leadership and what they’re going to do in 2009. Dodd is SHOWING us leadership, and he’s doing it right now.

It’s a shame he doesn’t get more press. I think he would appeal to plenty of people if they only knew more about him (and he had better/equal coverage).

Ron Paul might have made a decent President in 1790. By 1812, the world was more complex than Paul’s model could handle. I also wonder if Ron could get anything done domestically with a Democratic Congress (the GOP would not be loyal to him either most likely). And some of his domestic proposals are well a bit too radical–for example, I don’t think returning to the gold standard is such a great idea.

I’d feel more comfortable with Obama except that I believe his comments regarding foreign affairs demonstrate a certain naivety regarding our antagonists on the world stage. Perhaps after 8 years of McCain as POTUS, he will have garnered the necessary foreign policy wisdom to be POTUS. Also I believe McCain will be more fiscally conservative than Obama, and I would like to see our spending deficit shrink without raising taxes–I don’t think Obama shares that view.

I believe the last 15 years (8 Clintons + 7 Bush) have placed a heavy toll on American credibility abroad. McCain as POTUS in 2003 would *not* have blundered us into Iraq and he will *not* blunder us out of Iraq the way Obama and Paul will. These are dangerous times, and while we should not shirk our freedom for safety, I do believe that we can have our cake and eat it too with John McCain behind the desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. I’ll also mention that McCain’s health proposal is the only one that strikes at the root cause of our health care crisis: the rising cost. LIving in Belgium the last two years taught me that the way the Belgians afford their healthcare is *not* that the state pays for it, but that they *can’t* sue for malpractice. I’m now a big believer in tort reform.

they are losing libertarian or quasi-libertarian votes

Yes, they are. Not merely the more anarchic, childish types who vie with radical leftists when it comes to personal behavior (using the libertarian political philosophy as the fake excuse for such behavior), but more importantly, the many more of us normal Americans, who have libertarianism in their blood (a gift from England). Government should not be the first means sought to solve our problems, and in the American case the federal government should always be the last, not the first, resort. (It has nothing to do with lies and slander directed at those of us who still honor as well as understand constitutional federalism.)

2006′s election results were not only a thumbs-down on Bush and Iraq, but on the Dem Lite GOP.

The reason to vote for Ron Paul is not that he’s perfect, but just that it’s critically important to signal the Republican party that they are losing libertarian or quasi-libertarian votes by their current stance on nearly every issue under the sun.

The reasons to vote for Obama are a) to stop Hilary and b) because it would send the strongest possible signal that America has returned from its long night of insanity.

The reason to vote for McCain is that, despite his advanced years, he would probably make the best President.

The question of who to actually vote for turns on the situation at the time you vote.

He’s a possible VP selection at best.

So there you have your perfect candidate, in one simple name and one unspliced DNA: Ron Paul.