Political talk (king makers in competition)

While I find him a particularly uninspiring candidate with nothing of substance to offer, I am thinking I would like to see Fred Thompson go far in the Republican primaries. Why?

Because Wannabe-Kingmaker Jim Dobson has come out strong against him. In an attempt to once again sway an election (which he did in 04 and did not do in 06) towards his candidate of choice, so he can have the President on his cell phone, Dobson has come out against Thompson in a harsh manner. As usual, Christians must rely on Dobson to tell them whether a candidate's faith is real (he has given the green light to Newt, despite his marital record, but not Giuliani).

I find this Thompson thing fascinating because it shows a continuing rift in the religious right, between the old school power brokers such as Robertson, Dobson and Falwell (RIP) and newer leaders that have attempted a more nuanced manner, focusing on a more "Biblical" approach (even if it is flawed in its philosophical approach to power) like Richard Land of the SBC (who is on the right side of Immigration Reform). Land, along with Gary Bauer have come out strongly in favor of Thompson, even trumpeting his faith (which is suspect to many conservatives).

Of course, the irony is that they still are approaching flawed candidates with very little credentials within their own movement and going for the most "electable" instead of being filled with conviction and favoring a candidate with similar positions and history like Mike Huckabee. If the Religious Right put its money and power behind Huckabee he would move to the top tier, instead they look for a Pseudo-Reagan like Thompson or Panderer like Romney.

While the Democrats seem destined to nominate the unelectable, uninspiring, same-ole-thing and Robotic but disciplined and competent* Hillary Clinton, the Ivan Lendl of Candidates (I just hope the nomination is her Wimbledon), the Republican nomination is up for grabs and promises to be much more entertaining for observers with no horse in the race.

*BTW, it is sad that we have fallen so low that we will vote for someone based upon competency only. Give me a candidate with vision any day.