The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 7 of 13)

"So perhaps the only thing that is certain is that the candidate with the best organization, the most money, and the ability to spend time and money in multiple places will in the end cover his bets and come out ahead."

It seems to most voters, myself included, that the candidate with the best message "will in the end cover his bets and come out ahead."

Whether Iowa, and/or New Hampshire, and/or Nevada, and/or South Carolina is the first, or the best, or the last in the nation matters not a whit. What does matter is what the candidate brings to the table from a leadership standpoint. Big ideas will win the day, not trolling pundits who post their marginal conclusions when analyzing the timing of primaries.

p>Keep your eye on the ball! br> -- Owen H. Carneal, Jr. br> Yorktown, Virginia /p>

As long we are looking at "what if" and who might do well with all the shifts in the primaries, maybe we can start looking at shearing and pairings as well. If Senator Thompson declares his candidacy soon, he will be able to run well in South Carolina, and then, according to recent data, Romney is not likely to place in the top two spots there. A third or worse place run will effectively cripple Romney's candidacy.

Further, with Senator Thompson campaigning well in the south, he can threaten Mayor Giuliani's front running status, but as Ms. Rubin noted, after South Carolina comes Super Duper Tuesday where America's Mayor and the other candidates face a much less socially conservative constituency; Giuliani has an excellent chance to regain his front runner status and knock Romney out of the race completely. Once Romney is out, it is a two-man race between Thompson and Giuliani.

p>Certainly Giuliani is known well as wearing a thin skin, but as long as Thompson and his team don't make their adversarial pursuit of the presidency personal, Giuliani is wily and sagacious enough to know that a Giuliani/Thompson ticket could be highly appealing to voters across the political spectrum and geographical boundaries, similar to JFK, adding LBJ's southern appeal to Kennedy's Eastern Establishment bono fides. This would nicely offset many of the strengths of a Clinton/Obama ticket. Social conservatives may not be happy with their choices for president, but it is worth remembering that sometimes a fair entrée can be saved with the proper side dish. br> -- Ira M. Kessel br> Rochester, New York /p>

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