The Republican Party is in shambles right now. There are people on the right that say, throw out all the moderates and stick to core conservative principles. There are moderates that say, throw out the core conservative principles and move more to the left. Which will be the final winner? Only time will tell for sure. My gut instincts are to stick to conservative principles, because when they are spoken with conviction they always win.

Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush are on a “Listening Tour” around the country. Is there anyone in the entire world that believes that a listening tour is anything but a campaign photo op? On their listening tour, Jeb Bush made the comments that we should give up the values of Ronald Reagan and move more to the center. He said that because he believes that would bring in a larger tent for Republicans.

Mitt Romney put his foot in his mouth on this “tour”. He was shown a list of important Republicans. On the list was Governor Palin of Alaska. Mr. Romney said that she did not belong on the list of important Republicans. Thereby breaking Ronald Reagan’s 11^th commandment, thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican. That was a particularly dumb move on his part. She is an important player in the Republican game at this point in time. She may ultimately fall out and be what Mr. Romney says she is, but we do not know that at this time. She may also be important enough to be on the ticket in 2012 in either spot. I should say at this point that I contributed to Mitt Romney’s campaign for President in 2008. I believed he was the best person to be President in 2008 and still do.

But, just because I support a person does not mean that I cannot see their flaws. In 2008, Mitt had a problem of being too stiff. He had a hard time taking off his tie and connecting with the people. He had a hard time just being himself in public. That got better right at the end, but it was too late. Right now, he is quite comfortable in the public eye. Had he been this comfortable in 208, he would have been the nominee. I also see the mistake in criticizing Governor Palin. She is obviously working on polishing up her resume to be ready for a run at the Presidency in 2012. This comment will come back to haunt him in the 2012 race, especially if it comes down to the two of them.

The biggest question the Republicans have to answer is who shall lead the party? The person that leads the party will be the face of the party. That person’s values will also become the values associated with the Republican Party. It is critical that Republicans pick a good leader with good values. We cannot have a repeat of Independents and Democrats voting for our leader. That led to John McCain and disaster. I am not saying John McCain is a bad person. I am just saying he was the wrong candidate at that time. Against the nimbler Obama, McCain stood no chance. McCain stood on some principles that made no sense. He voluntarily tied his hands and would not return fire when it counted.

My choice in a leader should have a clear vision of what a conservative should be. That leader should articulate the conservative position in such a way that people get excited about being a conservative. The leader should not be defensive about being a conservative. My leader should believe in and support liberty for Americans and others. My leader should talk about releasing the power of private ownership of businesses. In other words, my leader should be everything Barack Obama is not.

I think we have a good selection of people to pick from. In my mind, the most polished and ready candidate is Mitt Romney. I am biased as I supported him in the past. We have a couple of potential stars in Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. They needed some seasoning in 2008. Sarah was a better speaker than Bobby. Bobby probably has a better resume. The others on the list like, Jeb Bush, Governor Huntsman of Utah and Mike Huckabee have more serious flaws. There will not be a “perfect” candidate. No candidate will completely emulate Ronald Reagan, but they do not have to. The one that best matches their potential will be the ultimate winner. We can win the White House in 2012. All we have to do is select our “Best” candidate, not a perfect candidate.

When I coached kids in baseball, I always told them to keep their eye on the ball all the way to the bat. That gave the hitter the best chance to hit the ball. Those batters that took their eye off of the ball and tried to look where they were going to hit it generally missed the ball entirely. In politics, it is much the same. Those that keep their eye on the ball (the goal) generally make it to the goal. Those that take their eye off of the ball, give ammunition to the other side to shoot you with.

During the last week, many so-called conservatives have taken their eye off of the ball and criticized Bobby Jindal and Rush Limbaugh. They criticized Bobby Jindal because he didn’t look right or he did not read the teleprompter as well as Barack Obama. So, what! It does not matter what someone looks like. It matters what his/her ideas are. Barack Obama looks great, but his ideas are poison. I would rather have the ugliest person in the world there if his/her ideas were more freedom and liberty. I would rather have a person that cannot speak a complete sentence without stumbling, if their ideas are good. A smooth talker with socialist ideas is not what this country needs.

People are criticizing Rush Limbaugh because he was too direct in criticizing Barack Obama. That is exactly what we should be doing. Rush has his eyes on the ball. He knows what the goal is. He knows how to get there. He has a vision of what America should look like if the constitutional liberties were given back to the people. That is what he wants for America. Barack Obama wants to turn us into a socialist nation. A socialist nation requires a dictator to run it. No republic can be a socialist nation like Barack Obama envisions. It requires a strong central government that is ready to stomp on the people if they get out of line. That cannot happen in this country today. He is trying to turn the country into something that will allow that sort of thing to happen. Which vision of America do you want?

We need to decide what we want for a goal that everyone can support. Then we need to start working toward that goal with all our energy. We need to stop criticizing those that are not perfect in their attempt to help us to that goal. People are not perfect by definition. If we expect perfection in our leaders, we will not have any leaders. We have to select the best people for the job and understand that they have flaws. If the flaw is minor, that person should be selected as a leader. If the flaw is major, the person should be rejected. Rejecting a person for their color or sex or religion is stupid. As long as that person is a good person and lives according to their religion, that is all that should matter. I may have a problem with a Muslim. Until I know whether that person truly supports liberty or whether they want Islam as the universal religion that person would have to be suspect. If they truly supported liberty and capitalism, then I could support even a Muslim for President. But the true test is whether the person holds the vision of America that I do or one close to the one that I hold. All other things are secondary. If I am selecting between two people that hold the same vision, I then start looking at secondary issues. The vision is the most important. We as voters have to keep our eye on the ball and find those leaders that have a true vision of America. Then we have to get them elected to office.

This continual criticism of each other is playing into the hands of the Democrats. They have a vision of America that I reject. When we tear each other down, we give the Democrats the ability to get some of the voters that should vote for us. We need to be wise in selecting these leaders.

In looking at those that are in line to take up the banner in 2012, some are excelling and some have dropped the ball. Sarah Palin is not living up to what I thought she could be. She is still young and inexperienced, but she is dwelling on the past. That is not good. If a pitcher throws a pitch that someone hits out for a home run, he has to forget that pitch. The next pitch is the new pitch without any thought of what went before. Those that can do that are the best pitchers. Mitt Romney is really hitting all the right buttons right now. There is still a long way to go. In politics, a week is an eternity. We have 3+ years before we select our nominee. Let’s choose wisely this time. Last time, we let the Democrats pick our nominee and look what it got us. Let’s have the Republicans pick the nominee the next time and I am sure the results will be very different.

The fallout from Saxby Chambliss winning in Georgia keeps coming. The latest was a meltdown by a CNN personality on the Wolf Blitzer show. He was complaining about Sarah Palin and the crowds she brought to the campaign. He then insulted Georgia by saying that the state has a collective IQ of 37. He also had to tear down Sarah Palin in the process. Liberals are such sore losers. They are also sore winners, but they really are sore losers.

Why are liberals so afraid of Sarah Palin? She lost the race for Vice President this year and is a governor of an out of the way state of Alaska. Could it be that they feel that if she runs for President that she would win?

What about Sarah Palin makes her scary for liberals? She is conservative. There are lots of conservatives out there. So that in and of itself is not it. She has the courage of her convictions and will not back down. That does scare them. Any conservative that will not abandon their principles at the drop of a hat scares liberals. They know that kind of person can defeat them with the truth. Add that she is conservative and principled with the fact that she is female and that is an almost unbeatable combination. She would be running as the first serious female candidate with a chance to win. The novelty of a black President will have worn off somewhat and having a new historic vote would be enticing for a lot of people.

Add all that to the personal story that is Sarah Palin and you get something quite daunting for liberals. Sarah is a typical mom that has typical mom problems. She also has a full time job that dwarfs the job that most moms would have. She hunts and fishes with the best of them. She is not afraid to be seen in blue jeans as the pictures from November 4 attest. In other words, she is not a prima donna.

Sarah has spent her political career cleaning up messes made by politicians. That includes politicians from both parties. She has felled some pretty tall trees to become Governor of Alaska. There were a lot of obstacles in her way and she overcame every one of them in her quest.

One other thing that drives the liberals mad is that Sarah has this ability to connect with voters that most conservative politicians do not have. Barack Obama has this ability too, but Sarah has it in spades. She does it by talking at a level that people understand and using words they understand. Obama uses his ability by using big words and fooling the people. Sarah talks directly to them and connects to their inner being. When she is unleashed in 2012, she will be a force to be reckoned with. The powers that be will see she gets some of that experience that she definitely lacked in 2008.

The other bright light is Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. He also will be a force to be reckoned with in the future. He is currently 37 years old and has the experience of someone 57 years old. If you want to talk brilliance, Bobby Jindal is your man. He graduated from college by the time most people start college. He ran agencies at a time when most people are starting careers.

The future looks bright for the Republican Party in 2012. There are two very young candidates. Sarah Palin will be 46 and Bobby Jindal will be 41. That would be a great pairing of candidates for the national ticket with either taking the top spot. They are both articulate and bright. They are both unique in their own way. Obama’s people have to be worried about getting him re-elected in 4 years with a depression on their hands. Things are looking up!