Can pundits at least make some effort to appear objective?

During the Fox News coverage of the New Hampshire Primary last Tuesday night, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, now chairman of GOPAC, made the absurd claim that Mike Huckabee's distant-third place finish (11%) demonstrated his competitiveness, was strong, &tc. . .

What a load of crap.

Getting tripled up on by the 2nd place finisher, Governor Romney (who had 32%), does not demonstrate competitiveness--it demonstrates that Rev. Huckster is a one-hit-wonder, a one-trick-pony, whatever your analogy of choice. He might win in South Carolina, but chalk that up to identity politics--not rational, issues-based reasoning.

I know that GOPAC is Newt Gingrich's creation, and Newt is--by some reports--backing Rev. Huckster, but (and this may be a self-answering question) do pundits have no shame?

As another famous saying goes...."Don't [pee] on my leg and tell me its raining."

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated"

Mark Twain's famous quote has great application to Governor Mitt Romney following the results of the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary. The nomination process, due to the high number of candidates without a single candidate dominating the race, resembles nothing so much as the NASCAR Nextel Cup. Consider the outcomes to date, and think of them as individual races:

Iowa -- Romney, 2nd Place
Wyoming -- Romney, 1st Place
New Hampshire -- Romney, 2nd Place

In fact, Romney currently leads in the delegate count (which is the only number that matters). The current delegate breakdown following the New Hampshire results:

Romney: 30
Huckabee: 21
McCain: 10
Thompson: 6
Paul: 2
Giuliani: 1
Hunter: 1

So long as no candidate is consistently coming in first, Romney's consistent second place finishes are good for two reasons: first, as stated, like the Nextel Cup, consistent high finishes allow the racer to rack up points, and it's points that determine the champion. Second, it indicates that Romney may emerge as a consensus 2nd choice--in the event of a brokered national convention, he may rise to the top, or it may make him an attractive Vice Presidential nominee.

So, when I hear the same media writing off Romney when they were writing off Clinton, I just consider the source.

Romney Wins Michigan Republican Straw Poll

Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for President and former Governor of Massachusetts, won Sunday's straw poll of attendees at the Michigan Republican Leadership Conference at Mackinac Island. Governor Romney polled decisively ahead of other candidates for president, carrying nearly 40% of the vote.

The Results are:

Romney — 39.12%
McCain — 26.56%
Paul — 10.83%
Giuliani — 10.62%
F. Thompson — 7.15%
Huckabee — 2.55%
Hunter — 1.23%
Tancredo — 0%
Brownback — 0.31%

He's not the real President, but he played one on TV

After watching the interview on Foxnews with former Senator and Actor Fred Thompson, I believe he is going to run for President. Fred Thompson had a good conservative track record as Senator from Tennessee, where ironically he won the seat vacated by Al Gore. I believe that he understands the values of rural Americans.

In his interview on Fox he had a presence about him that I don't recall seeing since Ronald Reagan was president. When he speaks you get a feeling of trust. This is probably why many people are pushing for him to run. Draft Fred Thompson is now a very popular site for those wishing for him to join in the fray.

A recent poll with knowledge of Fred Thompson's lymphoma in remission do you think he should run? 64% say he should run in the primary regardless, 22% say he is viable even with lymphoma, and only 8% thought the lymphoma should keep him from running. Fred is a cancer survivor and I think that will touch a cord with many Americans that live with or know someone that has cancer. 20 years ago, I believe that would have been the death of his candidacy, but not now.

What we are going to have to ask ourselves in the coming months is this; What Presidential candidate best represents the values of West Virginians? I believe the answer to this question could put Fred Thompson at the head of the pack, but only time will tell as we hear more from the candidates.