2012: Romney One to Watch.

Mitt Romney is one to watch for the 2012 Republican Presidential Nomination. He was named the top choice at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) with 20% of the vote. Gov. Bobby Jindal (LA) got second place with 16% of the vote, followed by Gov. Sarah Palin (AK) and Rep. Ron Paul (TX) each with 13% of the vote. 

Anyone who has read my postings over the past 18 months (on other venues such as Facebook) knows I have been very critical of Mitt Romney. I essentially agree with most things Romney says, but I just have a hard time trusting him since he seemed to have a lot of convenient election year conversions on issues he had held for years. I have also met consultants who worked with and for Mitt Romney who told me is a little bit less socially conservative than he makes himself out to be. 

Even Romney supporters acknowledge this, Ann Coulter, whom I have a great deal of respect for, admitted that the only reason Romney supported more liberal social positions was because he needed to win the election in Massachusetts. My thing is this, if you're a social liberal, be a social liberal, be real. But there are some really good things about Romney.

1. Romney is an expert on the economy and as we're in the midst of an economic crisis, it might be a good idea to have someone who is fluent on these issues. All four candidates can articulate a conservative economic message, but it is Romney who can expound, answer questions with specificity, this may be very helpful, even if we recover by 2012, with President Obama's economic policies, it's going to be a very slow climb back up and with other credit bubbles getting ready to burst, we may be facing an even bigger hard climb up. 

2. Romney has a very Clintonesque ability to shift as he needs to without damaging his credibility, look at the bank bail out plan. Romney was for it before he was against it before he was for it. My theory is, he was trying to figure out the confusing Bush plan and work out the facts before he made a solid decision about it. 

3. Moderates like Romney. In a Rassmussen poll taken right after the election, Palin won with conservatives and Romney won with moderates, if conservatives warm up to Romney it would unite the entire Republican Party and get alot of people involved to help get him elected. 

I still have not made a decision on who I will support in the 2012 election, I respect all of the candidates listed and think all of them are infinitely better than the president, but I need to see the campaign before I make a decision.