Thompson was probably the best of a bad crowd, but that's not saying much.

They don't seem to make politicians with political principles deeper than an inch any more. Real principles are connected, consistent, and based on history and solid axioms. So much of what politicians profess to believe seems to be absorbed from their surroundings like pictures on Silly Putty.

McCain talks about low taxes because he feels like he's expected to. His other statements make it obvious that he doesn't understand the actual economics behind tax issues.

Obama has been telling people what he thinks they want to hear, which makes trying to figure out his position on anything nearly impossible. His principles are also pretty much sucked up from his environment.

It's becoming clearer as time goes on that neither he or McCain are, I'm VERY sorry to say, the sharpest knives in the drawer.

There are people out there with the ideas and concepts down. Gingrich might be one, although he's starting to get drifty, too. I'd like to see Tom McClintock, who has economics completely nailed, tested in higher politics. It looks like he might make the House this year, and God knows we could use some conservative leadership in the House. If I gave it some thought, maybe I could come up with more. I'm hoping we get some conservative/libertarian* leadership that's less than 70 years old somewhere along the line.

I just realized that this is not a short-answer question. To do it right would require going into the old Republican leaders, especially in Congress, their virtues and flaws, and a bunch of other things.

* That would be "non-crazy" libertarian.