With the decision of Sen. Fred Thompson to quit the nomination race, the fate of the conservative wing of the GOP is suddenly up in the air. The field has now narrowed down to one RINO, a Liberal/Populist, a pure Liberal, and a newly minted "strong Conservative", leaving many conservatives wondering where will their vote go.

I am no fan of the new GOP "frontrunner" John McCain, nor are most clear thinking conservative voters. No matter what the MSM or nominal conservative pundits like Michael Medved say about him, John McCain is simply no one that conservative voters can...or will...embrace. His vocal "leadership" in trying to ram the last amnesty bill down the gullets of the American people, his championing of the biggest attack on the First Amendment in recent history, and his staunch opposition to tax cutting is enough to make conservative voters squeamish. Add to that the fact that he shows little respect for the concerns of conservative voters and seems to revel in attacking the very people who have always been the backbone of the GOP, and you have a candidate that has no real chance of forging a strong enough coalition within the GOP to get elected should he he win the nomination. And don't forget that his greatest victories in the primary season have come in states that allow crossover voting in the GOP primaries, which allow Democrats and Independents to give McCain's fortunes an artificially inflated boost.

Likewise, I am no fan of Gov. Mike Huckabee either, because he is just too much like the original "Man from Hope" for my liking. Huckabee has had his share of ethics problems in Arkansas, his tendency to pressure the parole board into allowing convicted murderers and rapists makes Mike Dukakis look tough on crime, and his populist demagoguery make me wince. I am not sure, but I don't remember the GOP having a party plank that calls corporations or "the rich" evil. I know that Huckabee has not actually used that word, but his rhetoric has certainly left that impression. And he seems to be another of these "compassionate conservatives" who think that conservatism needs to be watered down to draw in people from the great "middle" of the political spectrum. But we all know, and have witnessed for 8 years, that "compassionate conservatism" is a dismal failure; why should we want another one of these rubes in office? "Compassionate conservatism" is simply a way to mask a strong tendency towards consensus with the other side of the aisle, instead of taking strong stands on your principles. And that is what we get with Mike Huckabee; a man who is more than willing to turn his back on any real conservatism in order to get his grubby little hands on political power.

As for Rudy Giuliani, everyone knows where conservatives stand on this guy: he is a candidate that conservatives won't touch with an 11 foot pole...which is the pole that is reserved for things not to be touched with a ten-foot pole! For all of his rhetoric about being a conservative, his record screams a different story to anyone willing to see. Yes, he helped clean up New York and make it safe again...while he simultaneously was making it into a "sanctuary city" for illegal aliens. And for all of his high flown rhetoric about his foreign policy experience and his toughness on terrorism, he actually has no experience in the matter for all practical purposes. As my 12 year old son said to me yesterday, if talking about this stuff means that you are presidential material then I should be the leading candidate! I have plenty of ideas and have spoken and written many a word on the subject, so I have about as much real experience as Rudy! All I am lacking is having been on the scene of the 9/11 attacks to put me over the top. And on nearly every social issue, Rudy is right there with Madame Hillary; they share nearly identical positions on abortion, immigration, and the role that government should play in the lives of the citizens. He is as much of a lover of Big G government as anyone on the Democratic ticket.

Which leads us to Mitt Romney, also known as "Mitty-Come-Lately". Mitt has a record that suggests that he holds some very liberal views on the health care issue ( see his plan for Massachusetts), is a late convert to the idea that abortion is probably not a really good thing, and then there is that pesky religious issue that I (and others) have with him. But in this suddenly narrowed down field, and with his lead in the only race that counts...convention delegates...Mitt is starting to emerge as the only candidate left in the field (who has a snowball's chancing of being nominated, sorry Mr. Hunter) who can even pass as a conservative. In fact, even with all of my reservations about him I may be forced to either support him in the primary...or support no one at all. I have been very vociferous about my qualms on the Romney candidacy, but I may have to actually back down, eat a little crow, and wash it down with a glass of pride and support Romney. But that can only happen if Mitt can convince me that he is going to stay with the conservatism that he seems to have only recently stumbled upon, which is going to take some doing.

So thanks for nothing Fred! You have taken a wide open race and made it that much more unpredictable, and your decision to drop out of the race has left us conservatives floating without anyone to latch on to. Suddenly we conservatives have to find someone who is "the most conservative" of the candidates and stop looking for the true conservative.

We conservatives now have some serious soul searching to do, and some heavy decisions to make. Like the old song says, "We got a long way to go, and a short time to get there" so we may as well get about answering the newest question in this crazy race: Whiter the conservatives?