My Endorsement for President

Yesterday I posted my confession about supporting Gingrich. Some people viewed it as a non-endorsement endorsement of Gingrich. Others viewed it as a rejection of Gingrich. Others viewed it as an endorsement of Perry or Huntsman. It was none of the above. I suspect I was too obtuse in that while trying clearly to express my concerns and publicly wrestle with getting my head around whether or not I could support Gingrich.Over the course of the past few months, people have accused me of supporting Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, Huntsman, Pawlenty, Perry, and believe it or not, even Mitt Romney.In truth, I support none of the above and as I am constantly called on these days to make an endorsement of one of the candidates, I suppose we have now reached the time for me to explain why I have no plans to endorse anyone.

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First, I admit I have biases. I do like Newt Gingrich though as I noted yesterday, I have a real hard time wrapping my head around supporting him for the previously stated reasons. I do like Rick Perry too. He has been a tremendous friend to this site and I am personal friends with a great many people on his staff, some of whom used to write here. I also very much like Michele Bachmann. She has been a tremendously kind person to both me and my wife, thoughtfully checking in on us after the birth of our child, going out of her way to speak to me in a crowd, etc. I do not know Ron Paul, but his son is awesome. I do not know and have never met Jon Huntsman. I’m not exactly enamored with Rick Santorum.Second, I have made it clear over the past month for reasons there is no need to rehash that I am firmly in the not Romney camp. In the early days of the 2008 campaign I endorsed Mitt Romney. My endorsement was made based on so many people I respect having endorsed him. But it seemed every other day I was trying to defend him changing his position on another issue and eventually got so frustrated and started doing my own research that I just gave up and threw in the towel. I can’t get back on that train and I am frankly stunned so many never got off that train.But the lessons of 2008, the first open Presidential primary season any of us here went through since the founding of RedState, were remarkable valuable to me both in doing my own research on candidates instead of relying on the opinions of others and also realizing that the moment I endorse any candidate suddenly my opinions on the other candidates have little value because everything is seen through the prism of the endorsement.So I would prefer instead to tell you exactly what I think about each of the candidates, good or bad, and let the chips fall where they may. There are few honest brokers in this. I get accused all the time of being for one candidate or another. While I have my biases, I use the Horserace post and my other writings to call the race as I see it. Not endorsing anyone helps. You may or may not view me as an honest broker telling what I think of the candidates, but my aim is to get as close to that as I can, with previously noted biases taken into account.Frankly, if I thought the guy I endorsed was an idiot, I’d still say so as I have done so in the past. And as happened in the past, that guy’s campaign team would irate me in trying to get me to spin for them. I don’t plan on carrying any campaign’s water.Some of the front page writers have endorsed. Others will endorse. Some of you will be convinced I am endorsing or supporting a particular candidate. That’s all well and good. But my intention is to vote for not Romney and that is the only intention I have had since settling into the position a while back that he would be a disaster of a nominee.Lastly, and in all honesty, this field of candidates deeply depresses me. I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that we’re on the verge of having God hand us 1980 all over again and this time making John Anderson the Republican nominee.I can see a day soon on the horizon where I just give up and focus on House and Senate races instead of the top race.

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