I believe the only people who have earned our support as our standard bearer in 2012 are those who are (1) social conservatives (2) fiscal conservatives, and (3) have focused their efforts in the past couple of years on offering principled opposition to the Obama administration. The only people of stature who meet all three of those essential criterion are Palin, Pence, and DeMint. Since DeMint (who is not running) is not on our list, I’m voting Perry as 3rd because he’s the closest to the other three.

Those people who have primarily focused all their efforts on their unannounced but obvious runs for the presidency (e.g., Romney, Pawlenty, Cain, etc) have by their actions completely disqualified themselves as our standard bearer–IMO–by doing so. I am deeply disappointed with Cain, for example, who has spent his time over the past week or so ginning up his followers to vote in the straw polls here while the Dems have been burning down the house in DC with START, net neutrality, etc. Would it have made a difference if he had focused his followers on what the Dems were doing rather than on these polls? I don’t know, but the fact that it didn’t occur to him is quite telling.