1 Newt will be in the fray, and he will be the candidate.

2 Annie, NEVER say "never". Imagine Hillary v. McCain. You gonna sit on your hands and let her waltz in and steal what's left of the silver, furniture and flatware? She'll probably steal all those typewriters that are missing the "W's" as well. Hey, I'm for Newt, but if the nominees are John and Hillary, I'm backing John.

3 I know virtually nothing about McCain so fill me in. What is so bad about him?

4 McCain has a lack of wisdom. He believes he can romance the media, and they will like and support him. He doesn't realize the media only build him up to suit their purposes of preveting conservatives from being elected. If he got the Repub nomination, the media would slay him with a thousand vicious cuts. He would be the most surprised man in America to see it happen. McCain has a vague quality of trying too hard to please. It's as if he never grew up, never grew out of this aspect of the awkward teen-ager phase. It's as if he is constantly, frantically seeking approval. Amateur psychology: he may be unconsciously seeking the approval of the father he idolized. Don't get me wrong: McCain is tough. Yet, the over-trying to please and over-seeking approval aspect of his personality remains. McCain is not wise enough/conservative enough, as evidenced by McCain-Feingold. When you thrash the 1st Amendment, you thrashing just about the most sacred thing around. All that said, if McCain wins, I will vote for him, and I will work for his election. No damn way I'm going to support protest votes which may elect Obama or Hillary. McCain is not my preferred candidate, but he is far better than the light as fluff man or the shrew.

5 Casca, I will buy and ship a case of your favorite beer if Newt wins the nomination. Sorry I can't wager that man-on-boy porn you're so fond of but I wouldn't know where to begin looking for it.(Perhaps, some good ol' fashion girl-on-girl?)

6 Casca, forget the beer. If Newt wins the nomination, you 'n me are gonna kill a bottle of MacCallans 25 year old, all by ourselves. And, a monkey will jump out of your ass...

7 Hey go talk some sense into that 6 meat feller. Voting for Hillary is no solution. Also, I'm a little disappointed you didn't propose writing in Major X. Although we've never met, I assure you I am a man of great distinction. That, and I'm not John McCainiac! Over and out, X

8 Whew, a fellow takes a nap, and the rest of the world goes by. Andy, G is mostly right, I'd just put it this way. He's an egomaniacal jackass. If a man were all the things the left says about Nixon, only stupid, he'd be McCain. Blu, sadly, the recent onset of gout precludes my enjoyment of most alcohol these days. I'm now reduced to a Cabernet drip. As you might imagine, this is a great hardship. Pervert porn? I draw the line at beastiality, but who with an IQ over 110 has paid for porn in the past ten years? Just send me a bottle of Elyse Shiraz. Shell, what, you've never seen a monkey fly out of my ass? Although scotch is the prime suspect in my last attack, I will endure the rigors. I have a half bottle of Indomethracin here to chase it with. Generally, on this subject, the smart people are right: Shelly, me, Limbaugh, Newt, et al. The information age has compressed the OODA loop of everything we know, including the news cycle. What have the pols done but exactly the wrong thing. When they should be announcing later, they're doing it earlier. All are going for what the economists call first mover advantage, but before a fickle public, that only works for the Clintonistas. They can hold their galaxy of whores with a gun to their collective head. The longer you're out there, the longer people have to get tired of you. Much better to come late, and be the fresh face. Consider this, if that buffoon Obama hadn't announced, nobody else would have at this point in the race. We're over a year and a half out. For the next year, the msm will beat this stuff to death, and the people who care will ultimately support their party's candidate. The mush-brained 15% in the middle will start paying attention a couple weeks out from November '08.

9 Cas, forget the Indomethracin. Tell your doctor to prescribe 200 MG's of Zyloprim (or Allopurinal, which is the generic) every morning. And stop eating grapefruit and drinking grapefruit juice. Watch the gout go away... Newt's playing it right, so far, but I am afraid he is going to step it up too early trying to keep up with the pack.

10 OK so I get now why McCain blows. Do the republicans have anyone to put up for president that is worth a damn? Is there some one that everyone would like to see run and isn't or is there some candidate out there I haven't heard of who is super great?

11 It's N - E - W - T. What part don't you understand?

12 actually its looking like it will be Rudy. Now a rudy-newt ticket would be great. As for McQueeg. He is not sane, not conservative, not honest, and not nice. I also, would never vote for him.

13 Do the republicans have anyone to put up for president that is worth a damn? Fred Thompson perhaps?

14 I think either Rudy or Romney would be outstanding. I very much like the Congressman from California - though I can't now think of his name! It's a crazy idea, but I'd love to see Michael Steele rehabilitated as a VP - maybe a Giuliani-Steele ticket, or Romney-Steele. I'd love to see either ticket run against Hillary. Steele is charismatic and intelligent, with enough financial scuff in his history to make him real and down to earth. Kinda crazy, but that's who I like. I don't understand what's behind Andy's question: "Do Repubs have anyone who is worth a damn?" Is Andy's question intended as criticism of Repubs? I'll take Rudy, Romney, & California Congressman, and I'll be very pleased with their quality. You can have George H.W. Bush, Dukakis, Perot, Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Gore, George W. Bush, Kerry, Obama, and Hillary. Excepting W, there's not a good President in your crowd. My three guys will kick your guys ass all day long. Excepting Bill Clinton, my guys will also kick your guys ass in candidate charisma. That includes Obama, who will be shown to be an intellectual fluff. Obama's "charisma" is very thin meringue(sic), with no pie underneath.

15 casca and shelly keep forgetting to use newt's last name, which is cantwin. or his middle name, which is wontwin. gcotharn likes the calif congressman whose name he can't remember. i don't know who you mean, but my guess is he probably wont win due to a weakness in name recognition.

16 Indeed, Newt is even more unelectable than Hillary. The Allens and Santorums of the party are in the dustbin for now. I'm a little surprised you wouldn't vote for McCain against Hillary or Obama. Remember, when one doesn't vote, their complaints are ignored...

17 Duncan Hunter! Probably can't win this cycle, but I really like him as a candidate.

18 It is starting to look like you are safe, Annie. John seems to be following Douglas MacArthurs' statement: "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away..."

19 gcotharn, No, I wasn't criticizing the republicans I was being honest. I wanted to know who they have who is worth a damn so I know who to go look up more info on. Same reason I asked the McCain question in the first place. I was honestly curious about why he isn't a good candidate. I find if I ask on blogs like Annika's I get more honest opinions and better explanations than if I just go out and read the news spin on this candidate or that one. I even get opposing opinions from the vocal dissenters that comment on her blog. All in all it is a much more informative forum then say CNN's political pages. In the end I'll form my own opinion but I like to hear different views from real people who have a vested interest in what happens to our country not spin doctors on the local or national news.

20 You guys need to read Jim Belushi's book; it is entitled "Real Mean Don't Apologize".

21 That's what they said about Nixon.

22 Annika, kyle8, gcotharn: Sorry to say but Rudy's detractors have begun their mudslinging over the weekedn and just last night Rudy's son inferred that his father lacked character and family values. I give him till September.

23 I will not support McCain under any circumstances. The "John sucks, but the Dems are worse" campaign ad just won't fly with me. McCain not only supported an assault on the 1st Amendment, he co-authored it. Sure, he had a co-sponsor, but I expect the left to try and curtail free speech. I will not tolerate it from someone on my side of the political aisle. Also, he loves to mock, lampoon and ridicule the people who are his nominal base, especially when he wants some good coverage from the NY Times. My brother-in-law is one of those arch-conservative fellows. He hasn't failed to vote GOP in any general election since 1980. He has stated that he would vote 3rd party if McCain wins the nomination. Now I know that the plural of anecdote isn't data, but I will bet that in the unlikely event McCains wins the Republican nomination, the outcome will make the McGovern landslide look tame by comparison. I'm working on some possible McCain campaign slogans: 1) "I love the GOP base, except for the coservative godbags who won't vote for me." 2) "Wiping my ass with the US Constitution, one page at a time." I'm leaning towards #2.