Who's on my presidential short list?

In no particular order:

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Dr. Ben Carson

At this  point, no one else.

Who I will not vote for?

Paul, Christie, Rubio, Romney, Bush, Graham (Who once told me to my face he was never going to run for president, in fact, telling me that I could chair his campaign in Washington State if he ever did.) Huckabee, King, Pataki, Palin, Perry, Santorum or Trump.

Others not listed have zero chance at this point and I haven't considered them as a result.

Gov. Walker has shown a level of political courage that I can only dream of.  He stands as a beacon of political integrity that all in office (Particularly the clueless moron representing us in Congress here) should emulate.

Walker, who has achieved the fantastic goal of returning Wisconsin, a state once deeply and darkly blue as the Soviet Socialist State of Washington, turned that state into a right-to-work state, facing down hordes of union scum, personal and legal attacks and character assassination of the democratian variety while he triumphed in 3 statewide elections, including a recall where union's money of the variety a fringe-left loon by the name of Seabrook was whining about just the other day.

Finding a politician with convictions is about as rare as discovering oil in your own back yard.  I know Herrera has none.  Others I believed had them have shown otherwise.

Walker, on the other hand, is that political rarity:  He's put his political future on the line for what he believes in.  He's fought and won.  And who has done that around here or even nationally?

Unlike the blithering idiot currently staining the White House, Walker's got executive political experience.  He obviously appeals across much of the political spectrum, he's withstood the typical leftist attacks and emerged victorious.  And he's got the courage so lacking among so many.

Deciding questions include those related to the 2nd Amendment, Obamacare repeal, tax code reform, foreign policy questions, tax questions and the like; but those apply to any candidate running, and if answered wrong, would likely result in voting them off my island.

Here's what got my attention concerning Dr. Carson: (If you haven't seen this, take 28 minutes or so and watch.)




It take a special kind of person to stand right next to the President of the United States and to, effectively, tell him that he's as full of crap as a Christmas goose.

The introduction for Dr. Carson sums up the reason I so admire him.

He rose up out of poverty, performed brilliantly in his chosen field for decades, became respected around the world in that field and obviously is a man of integrity and courage.

He would make an ideal vice-presidential candidate due, in part, to his lack of political experience.

But his brilliance and grasp of the issues confronting us show me that he's more than willing to mix it up, take positions and fight for what he truly believes... another set of character tenets our own congresscritter could use.

Dr. Carson has had issues with the 2nd Amendment, but I am satisfied with his position on this issue as laid out here:

“Perhaps I didn’t convey it appropriately,” he said. “I wanted to convey that, you know, I’ve lived in urban areas. I’ve worked in urban areas. I’ve seen a lot of carnage, and I’d prefer a situation where the kinds of weapons that create that kind of carnage don’t fall to the hands of criminal elements or insane people. But that is secondary to the desire to always defend the Second Amendment.” 

Carson said that “under no circumstances” would he “allow a bureaucrat to remove any law-abiding citizen’s rights for any kind of weapon that they want to protect themselves.” 

If he were in a position of national leadership, Carson said he would seek to allow people to possess any kind of weapon they can legally buy, including “automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons.”

That's good enough for me.

Others may work their way up, but it's going to be difficult.