But Fred Thompson brought it up…

We’ve got Chinese government who we’re mutually economically dependent upon right now. But you know, they’re still a totalitarian government that is building up their military tremendously and has 200 missiles pointed toward Taiwan.

Besides his answer on campaign finance reform I think he really hit all the big points and sure sounds like he’s running, but wants to see if John McCain is going to pull it together or not.

It’s not often I agree with Senator McCain, but he is spot on with this one.  I just wish the guy wasn’t such a wash on other issues.  Fiscal conservatism is the number issue for me when choosing a candidate I will get behind and McCain has been hawkish in that area, but such a flop on too many others.

Republicans spent their way into losing control of Congress, presidential candidate John McCain said yesterday.

“The reason why we lost that election, my dear friends, was because we let spending get out of control,” the Republican senator from Arizona told a breakfast crowd in Conway. “We came to power in 1994 to change government and government changed us.”

Boston Globe 

Such displays of marital bliss may appear warm and spontaneous, but underneath lies a shrewd political calculation. The couple’s message is unmistakable: Romney is the lone leading GOP presidential candidate or prospective candidate still on his first marriage. More important , perhaps, he’s the only one who isn’t an admitted adulterer.

With “family values” a defining principle for many primary voters and competitors’ past foibles making headlines, Romney is clearly trumpeting an aspect of his candidacy that none of his top-tier rivals can match, observers say.

“A lot of people have made the argument that if you can’t commit to your wife, how are you going to commit to the American people?” said John Stemberger, an Orlando lawyer, activist, and member of the Arlington Group, a national coalition of influential social conservatives. “I think that’s a fair argument to make, especially when you see a history or pattern of broken commitments.”

Boston Globe

This is certainly an issue that will aid Romney in his Presidential campaign, particularly among the “family values” voters out there.  He has a monopoly on this issue among the first tier candidates.  I am, however, curious to see how high this will rank among the electorate.  Romney won the CPAC straw poll, but McCain and Giuliani have also had their share of wins and good showings in such conservative states as South Carolina.  When it gets down to crunch time what will be the decisive issues of the day?

Whether he runs or not, the very notion of a Gingrich candidacy says as much about the glum mood among Republicans and the seeming weakness of the current crop of candidates as it does about Mr. Gingrich. Within the party’s powerful conservative base, Mr. Giuliani is tainted by two messy divorces and his generally moderate stands on social policies. Mr. McCain is openly reviled for his support of campaign-finance reform, his previous criticisms of the religious right and his support for easing the path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Conservatives view Mr. Romney’s Mormon faith and shifting social positions with suspicion.

Since the collapse of the campaigns of former senators Bill Frist of Tennessee and George Allen of Virginia, there’s also no prominent Southerner in a race that Southern voters largely shaped for the past generation. While former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is courting conservatives, Mr. Gingrich, a one-time congressman from Georgia could better fill the void.

Wall Street Journal

Some of Newt’s actions of late really lead me to believe he is going to announce a run in September and the article makes some excellent points. There really is no true conservative champion in the running. I really like Rudy personally, but some of his positions are what keep me from supporting him in the primary at this point. McCain needs no explanation. Romney seems like a nice enough guy, but you just don’t know for sure what he believes. As for Huckabee, he just reminds me of another George W Bush and he supports higher government spending and a welfare state. Sorry, but one President from Arkansas was enough. Do we really want to repeat that??

I think Gingrich is really playing this smooth. Announcing later in the year after the public is sick and tired of hearing about the Big Three could be a breath of fresh air and who knows how much the current front runners could damage themselves by then, allowing Newt to ride in on a white horse to save the day. Plus, he already places well in most primary polls and he hasn’t even announced he is running so that shows he’s the hope in a lot of peoples’ minds.