While it may seem a trifle absurd in mid-December 2006 to spend time agonizing over which candidate to support for president in 2008, such is the nature of the current political environment and far be it for me to go against nature.
Just as I was prepared to write off the idea of ever supporting Mitt Romney--despite the on-going effort to tout him as the "only conservative choice"--a couple of items came to my attention which have given me reason for pause.
The first was an article by John J. Miller in the latest edition of National Review called Evangelicals for Romney?. Here's the key quote:
"People will be practical, and they will make judgments based on the alternatives," says Richard John Neuhaus, a Catholic intellectual who is widely respected by Protestants. "From what I've seen of Romney, I'm very favorably impressed--he's done well within the eccentric politics of Massachusetts. For me, his Mormonism is not a positive factor, but I could support him."
The second is an interview with Romney by Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review Online:
Lopez: Read anything good lately?
Gov. Romney: A few of my current favorites are "The Cube and the Cathedral" by George Weigel, "The Looming Tower" by Lawrence Wright, "America Alone" by Mark Steyn, "The Places in Between" by Rory Stewart, and Bill Bryson's latest book "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid."
That's a reading list that hits very close to home. While I would still prefer a Gingrich, Brownback, or Sanford (on the slim chance that he would enter the race), these two items are definitely positives for Romney. Let's not close that door just yet.
SP Adds: I must admit, the full court press for Romney by various sections of the conservative punditocracy is creating a reflexive rejection response in me. I think Newt Gingrich would be the best President of any potential candidate in 2008. And I thought I could write off Guiliani as being too socially liberal. But when Richard Brookhiser (a guy so intelligent and learned in the intellectual disciplines I value, I'm tempted to believe anything he says), provides this full endorsement, I have to give it some serious consideration. And I better get started brooding soon, only got 23 candidate shopping months to go!
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