For inspirational, we have Herman Cain, Michele Bachman, and Tim Pawlenty. On the other side of the fence are candidates such as Mitt Romney.
No undeclared candidates are mentioned.
Mitt Romney: Mitt Romney is for small government and fiscal responsibility except when RomneyCare is concerned. Of all the Republican candidates, he is the one who has been the most demonstrably "moderate". He might be able to draw more independents, but his past policies, especially the Massachusetts healthcare reform bill known as "RomneyCare" don't exactly fill me with confidence about his fiscal conservatism.
Newt Gingrich: Newt Gingrich's record is one of conservatism across the board. He is a social and fiscal conservative career politician. He has championed the conservative cause for many years. His career as a politician is a mark against him however.
Michele Bachman: Fiscally conservative and with a good record, Michele Bachman is one of my favorites for the nomination. She supports the Tea Party, and her fiscal policy matches closely to that of the various Tea Party groups out there.
Ron Paul: Though running as a Republican, Ron Paul could best be described as "Libertarian" although his policies aren't a perfect fit for the Libertarian Party. His fiscal policy is admirably conservative. I also like his position on Letters of Marque and Reprisal, but that's only because I want one. However, his position on the Prohibition style "War on Drugs" and foreign policy are likely to alienate at least some Republican voters. Like most of the other candidates he is a career politician.
Herman Cain: This is my favorite candidate. Some people like him because he's black, but I like him because he's a self-made man who has turned failing businesses around and has an enviable record of success. He has also served as a talk-show host and helped defeat a government healthcare plan sponsored by the Clintons in 1993/94 (known as HillaryCare) that bore a marked similarity to today's ObamaCare.
Tim Pawlenty: The former governor of Minnesota is socially and fiscally conservative, like most of the other candidates, and also a career politician. He has a great track record of sticking to his principles.
Jon Huntsman: The former ambassador to China - one of Obama's few Republican appointees - and governor of Utah has a great record for lowering taxes, but a much poorer one on keeping spending low. He also signed the "Western Climate Initiative" an initiative to reduce "climate change". Even so, his past success with Utah goes a long way towards redressing his former support of climate change and the increase of spending during his time as governor.
Young Republicans, please put your own opinions of the various candidates into the comments.
You may also put a short summary of any candidates that I missed if you want to, or call my attention to the omission, and I'll add the candidate to this post.
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