And They're Off. . .

Newt is in, and 'Huck' is out. The race for the Republican nomination is finally taking shape. Sarah Palin, Trump and others are expected to announce their plans soon.

I was really hoping Mike Huckabee would run. If he had, I would have definitely supported him for president. He is the strongest conservative on social issues. I like his views on limited government, too. I admire him, though, for his reasons for staying out of the race. He said he came to the decision after a lot of prayer. As he put it, "All the factors say 'go,' but my heart says 'no'." I give the guy a lot of credit for seeking God's will instead of just jumping into the race.

The GOP has other strong candidates, though, and I like many of them. Newt would make a great president, but I think his time has passed. Newt is the 'Republican of Yesterday.' His 'Contract with America' was just what the country needed in 1994. I'm not sure he could do it again, though.

I also like Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. Herman Cain is coming on strong, too. I could even get behind Trump. The only one in the race that I don't like is Ron Paul. He is too out of step with Republicans for me. But in a race against Obama, I'd vote for Mickey Mouse over the Goofy president we have now.

It's still early in the race, but I'm looking forward to an interesting, and sometimes heated, 2012 campaign.

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Local elections were held over the weekend, and Pampa has a new mayor. I got to hear him speak a couple of months ago, before I knew he was running for mayor, and I liked him. He's already done a lot of good things for Pampa. I think he'll be a good mayor.

I was wishing I could vote in Amarillo's mayoral race. It was definitely the most interesting race in the area. It even made national headlines. Eleven candidates were running for mayor. There was a whole menagerie of people running, from the first trans-sexual mayoral candidate in Amarillo to a radical street preacher. I watched the candidates' debate on TV. It was very interesting. In the end, I think the best man won. It's interesting to note, though, that the trans-sexual got more votes than the preacher. Now what does that say about Amarillo? I'm not sure...

Politics is full of surprises. I guess that's why I love to follow politics.