2012 Presidential Race

Sadly, it seems that the Republican party is rushing to narrow down the candidacy for President. I don't think people have had enough time to really hear out the policy ideas from each candidate; my opinion has changed with every debate I've watched.

At first I was in support of Michelle Bachmann - then I heard her views on abortion. She was out in my mind and shortly thereafter out of the race entirely.

Then, I thought Newt Gingrich was my man. Until he called for a new military post in his introduction speech for a debate, and used the absurd argument and cry for compassion that we can't deport "grandmas". So, Newt's not for me.

After Newt, I suddenly was drawn to Ron Paul. I'd previously dismissed him because as my room mate so eloquently pointed out, Ron Paul is the crazy uncle that you love to listen to talk but who has to stay in the basement when (closed minded) people are around. If we started to look at things in the way Ron Paul does and has been for DECADES, we could strategically redirect the future of our country while dealing in reality - which is an incredibly rare thing these days.

During the latest debate, Rick Santorum was on his game! I honestly had not noticed him during any previous discussions, his cheesy, seemingly fake smile had me dismissing his every word for a long time. But, his approach to immigration reform is very impressive. His policy ideas for taxation are the closest thing I have heard to my ideals. His responses to health care questions were well thought out and comprehensive.

The first debate of the year had me researching the nature of debates. When Mitt Romney took the mic I was convinced he was the Democratic representative of the debate. Come to find out it was the Republican debate, so what was he doing there? Oh, he is a Republican? I found that very hard to believe after hearing much of his policy - in state tuition for illegal immigrants? Talk about coming out of LEFT field! Well, over time I have warmed up to him slightly; more just coping with his poll results and realizing that I will likely be voting for either him or Obama when it all boils down.

It is so very sad to see that primaries are already taking place and people are being quickly eliminated or written off due to poll results. I am completely torn at this juncture as to which candidate I support between Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Why do we need to eliminate people so quickly? We need time to really hear our their ideas and what their plans for our country are and I think the media is doing an outrageous disservice to the public by showing these polls that strip hope from the candidates with low ranks.

We need to focus on three things this election day. The person we each vote for to be the President of the United States needs to stand for our own personal values on the following three topics:

1. Immigration Policy
2. Spending/Taxation/Budget
3. Health Care Reform

These three topics are of the utmost importance in determining the direction our country goes from here. We are at the very bottom, in the worst place we can be financially as a country. Corruption, greed and private interests have left us financially destitute. This crippling of the government systems we have in place gives us an awesome opportunity to pick up the scraps and start over, rebuilding our ideal America. So, who represents your ideals on those three values?