Posted on '08 Election, Conservatives, Republicans

deja vu

senator george allen of virginia could possibly be the republican nominee for president in 2008, beating out guiliani, romney, and mccain. i’m not sure this is the best pick for the republicans. he is charming, and personable, and he says what conservatives want to hear. he did vote against the senate amnesty bill, and that’s a huge point in his favor. he seems to take a hard line on iran, and echoes the president’s views on just about everything. even though he is the former governor of virginia, i don’t see him as the kind of leader that this country needs. we need a person who can be tough with foreign dictators and tyrants, and who can effectively defend his policies to the people and to the press. i just don’t see allen this way.

allen is allowing the other contenders, including newt gingrich, to control the debate on foreign policy issues. this shouldn’t happen if he really wants to be president. his attempts so far haven’t convinced me that he does want that job. he has made the obligatory stops and pressed the right flesh, but that’s not enough to make a person worthy of the presidency.

senator allen has disappointed me. while i will say that the “macaca” comment reaction was overblown, i still don’t like the way he initially handled the situation. i am also concerned about his previous association with the CCC, as mentioned in the Nation. yeah, it’s a liberal rag, but assuming the picture they have is not photoshopped, that’s a serious allegation they are making about him. i don’t think that allen is a racist, but i think his affinity for all things Southern, including Confederate flags, could be a problem for him in ’08.

the biggest concern i have about allen is that he seems to have similar weaknesses to our current president. i don’t think that allen has the gravity of a mitt romney or john mccain, or even rudy guiliani. i don’t know how he would react when confronted with a major crisis like katrina or any kind of escalation in iran or north korea. i’m sure that he was a competent governor, and is equally skilled in the ways of the senate, but i can’t see him as president. maybe that will change.

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