It's hard, as Captain Ed discovers. The reader comments from loyal but non-Malkinite Republicans are a little sad:
Doggone it; I really WANT to like Fred but he's just GOT to deliver.
I find myself wondering why he didn't give more detail. Did he just run out of time for the answer? Is he not familiar with one or more of the plans proposed? Does he want to leave things open, because it all depends on the party balance in Congress? Is he trying not to sound policy-wonkish? A little more meat, instead of "I agree with you" would have been better.
I want to like Fred, but he's not going to make it easy. The main thing he has going for him is that he's not Guiliani (= Hillary in my book, and WON'T get my vote), McCain, or Romney. Looks like we still need a conservative candidate. C'mon, Newt! There's still room!
One sliver of hope:
I like Fred. Whether practiced or not, the response appeared genuine. You can tell he's traveling in a motor home, and that he's taking time on his tour to read and respond to email. Compared to all the other candidates, he still smells the best to me - good speaking voice, says enough to answer a question, without saying so much he'll have to explain things away tomorrow. He's probably the first lawyer I could relate to.
I haven't registered yet, but Fred's getting a check from me this week.