So the Republican nomination campaign train keeps going…

My last post centered around Super Tuesday. I didn’t feel that anything dramatic came of Super Tuesday, but, I knew there would be more to come. More is here…

Let’s talk about the south for just a moment. Newt Gingrich won his home state of Georgia and Rick Santorum won the other states holding contests. Mitt Romney won nothing in the south. I say, I say – Southerners are not as stupid as people think they are…

Mitt Romney campaigned in the south. He talked about eating cheesy grits and biscuits and tried to call the people, Y’ALL. He did not sell it. But, he tried like a used car salesman, he did. As a person who’s family is from the south, I did find his act insulting. I was hoping the other people in the south would see that as well and they did.

Unlike the people of Michigan, southerners were not fooled. Rick Santorum isn’t from the south and he didn’t try to act like it. He talked about what he wanted to do – with no pandering – and the results showed. Mitt Romney’s style is to pander. He is whatever you want him to be when you want him to be it. This is why the Romney head scratchers still exist…

Romney was labeled the etch-a-sketch candidate. His own campaign adviser inadvertently coined that phrase and it stuck to HIS candidate as a style. Spot on. Media scrutiny back on Romney…

Miraculously, Rick Santorum has managed to quiet the attention on his campaign and Newt Gingrich has said nothing. Next goal – Santorum needs to win his home state. If he doesn’t, he has no choice but to bow-out. Even Gingrich won his home state. P.S. Now which state is Romney’s home state again? 🙂

So Romney has made it to the half-way point in the delegate count. Again, many pundits and Republicans are saying he’s all but locked up the nomination. There are more than enough delegates left to win, but, what if Santorum and Gingrich stay in until the end and win some of those delegates? The delegate split has been a topic of concern… It’s a strategy that could get the party to a brokered convention. It’s still a possibility. Keep watching…

Now the campaign trail has taken us down another controversial path; The separation of church and state. It got ignited by Santorum attempting to condemn JFK’s speech confirming the necessity. Consider this…

When we recite our pledge of allegiance, we say, “… One nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” We should have a leader that represents our nation, including the pledge we make to our country. But, because some religions have different gods and some stations don’t acknowledge a god at all, we can’t hold our leader to a central position of faith. It ends up being inequitable…

The charge of the Presidency needs to be existential, not fatalistic. We can’t have a leader who’s sitting back in the hope that fate will prevail. We need a leader of action and full engagement.

There can’t be influence between the two; Faith has to be a part of the man or woman, but, separate from the politician. A politicians work has to be independent of faith.

We need to make a decision about our President based on their qualifications. Not based on their religion or race or gender or marital status or choice of breakfast cereal. Are we concerned about their choice of music? movies? whether they drink coffee? It’s overkill.

Yes, public figures need to be scrutinized at a higher level, but, qualifications have to be paramount. We have to respect a person’s right to have personal preferences independent of their professional skills and experience. Even The President of the United States.

We’re becoming too invasive and nit-picky as a society. At the rate we’re going, no one will be free-and-clear to run for President – we’ll all be disqualified. Then what?

So, here’s where we are: The Pennsylvania primary is on Tuesday, April 24th. All bets are off until then. Depending on the outcome, we could have something completely different to talk about.

But one thing is for sure – as candidates and voters, we need to dial back the judgement and encourage the hypothesis method. It always works for me…