Candidate Christie? Apparently not.

As it turns out, the Governor was true to his word. At a press conference in Trenton, New Jersey today Governor Christie said he has decided not to run for President, just like he's been saying for two months now. What is funny is that it seems to be the first time the media has heard it considering the consistent reporting that he is "undecided." An article on CNN reported Christie's announcement as if the matter was finally being settled. The author then proceeded to talk about how this is going to affect the race between Governors Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, while discussing the rest of the candidates as if they more-or-less are non-contenders. You can view the CNN article here.

Mention was given to entrepreneur Herman Cain due to some surprisingly strong polling in the last couple weeks, most notably the September 24 Florida Republican straw poll (37%) and the October 1 TeaCon MidWest straw poll (77%). Personally, I'm not much a fan of Mr. Cain but I was pleased he was given a fair share of the article. He undoubtedly preaches sound-sounding economics, but the fact that he has only executive experience and no political experience is not a reason to think he is the man for the job. A blend of both private and public experience is necessary, I think. The fact is, the economy is not a household and the country is not a corporation.

Not to mention, I'm a little weary of the previous position he has held as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He speaks Austrian economics but then says we don't need to audit the Fed. Yeah, thanks, but no.

Also in the article mention was given to Sarah Palin who according to an insider is still undecided. She has a deadline of October 28 for entering the New Hampshire Republican Primary. Personally, I think that Mrs. Palin should stay out of the race. I'm a great fan of hers and admire her very much but I think that there are already a couple candidates who would both be better for the United States and have better showing at the polls in a general election. Not to mention that Sarah Palin's being in the race would deny much-deserved time in the spotlight in both the news and debates. Time that could go to Governor's Hunstman or Johnson, maybe even... dare I say... Congressman Paul?

Though she cut short her term as Governor of Alaska she got up and did exactly what she told her constituents she was going to do, making the Alaskan government more honest, the energy industry more responsible and productive and the state more prosperous. She was a great Governor but I don't know how I feel about her as President. Perhaps she has the potential for a Presidential cabinet member?

The rest of the candidates were all but ignored. So I'll take the liberty of filling in the empty space.

Newt Gingrich is showing well, having kept a moderate pace in the last few months. Though he is not winning any polls he is maintaining a consistent base of support, given to his record as a fair-minded and value-driven Conservative, but also as being negotiable and a reasonably compromising. Conservatives fell in love with Gingrich during his time in the House of Representatives and his tenure as Speaker of the House. During interviews and debates he commands attention, owing to his great debate skills and his keen sense of wit. As much as I like listening to the man, I think that he has been in Washington too long and rubs shoulders with some of the same people as Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, namely members of the Council on Foreign Relations and people at the World Bank.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has been sliding lately and for two reasons I think. The first is relatively obvious, which is the disproportionate amount of time being given to most of the candidates in media coverage and during debates. The other reason is that, while Mrs. Bachmann has garnered most of her support in recent years from criticizing President Obama, our "Socialist" Congress and the health care legislation, she is focusing too much time on those issues and not enough on providing other ideas - the ideas that will bring jobs, strength and confidence back to America - the ideas right-wing Americans are looking for. When I hear her speak all I hear is, "Obamacare... repeal Obamacare... Socializing... Executive Order to repeal Obamacare... free trade legislation." Sorry, but get over Obamacare, you can't repeal it - it has to be dismantled carefully. And free trade legislation? Get out of my government.

The two western Governors, Gary Johnson and Jon Hunstman, are being somewhat shunned by the media but are both slowly gaining a little bit of traction. Both have very strong conservative ideas and records of being honest and decent politicians who practice what they preach. The more time they are both given the more people seem to like what they are saying. Huntsman especially is showing strongly by being the only candidate who speaks as if he is speaking directly to you - he has great presentation and public speaking skills, he speaks with facts and he seems to have a very genuine demeanor. Governor Johnson is still struggling to catch up, in part because he has missed a couple debates and also because the media is subtly branding him as off-his-rocker. Media coverage aside, a Constitutionalist Gary Johnson remains.

The other candidate who is being shunned, but far in excess of all the other candidates, is Congressman Ron Paul. Paul, having 30 years of consistency and a Constitutionally-driven philosophy, is gaining much support this election cycle due to the public's growing interest in the Federal Reserve, ending the wars (admittedly, I once supported both efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq) and wasteful spending at the behest of Capitalism that is functioning more like Corporatism. In addition, Dr. Paul has great communication skills and the little bit of time he is allotted he makes the most of and people are listening. He's appealing to the younger generations, Independents who are disgusted by both parties in the recent decade and to those Republicans and Conservatives who are realizing that their party can accept half the blame for all our problems.

A big difference in Congressman Paul's strategy when compared to all the other candidates is that rather than trying to appeal to Republican voters as the most electable Republican nominee, he is trying to appeal to America as the candidate who can beat President Obama and move our nation back to the Constitution.

So, I guess that leaves us with Senator Rick Santorum who is slowly losing his support to the likes of other candidates. While he still has a support base and is still showing up to the debates and providing opinions and ideas that are very in-line with conservatives, I think he has a problem conveying his ideas with words that people want to hear. I'm not so much a fan of Rick Santorum, simply because he exemplifies neo-Conservatism.

In my eyes, we have two groups vying for the Republican nomination - Neo-conservatives and Constitutionalists. In the most simple terms, Congressman Paul and Governors Johnson and Hunstman are both of the Constitutionalist-libertarian philosophy, supporting free market Capitalism, smaller government, sound money, and a prepared but reactionary military, while the other candidates are more akin the neo-Conservative mold. The sad truth is that neo-Conservatism has next to nothing Conservative about it. It's really just American right-wing Progressivism. This is the Conservatism of the past couple decades - with big budgets, military interventionism, the spread of western ideas to far away lands, deficit financing, and backroom deals with shady governments and greedy corporations - and sadly I feel that Gingrich falls into this category as well as Palin, though to a much lesser extent.

My advice: let's not allow the Republican party to continue to follow this neo-Conservative line of thinking and let's not allow America to tread down the path of has-beens.