There seems to be a lot of in-fighting in the GOP right now, but I do not see this as the least bit unhealthy.  If we don't get a lot of this aired out right now, you can bet the current Commander in Chief will do all he can to make sure he can embarrass the Republican candidate.  The current president cannot run on his record, nor frankly can any of the 23 senators or the 150+ democrat members of the house.  This may be a bruising campaign, but my sense of the electoral college is that it will not be close, regardless of who comes out on top in the republican side.

If one examines the current occupant of the White House, one sees a person deeply flawed not only in skills to do the job, but also in character and psyche.  Barack Obama is inherently dishonest, a pathological liar and a person who has surrounded himself with sychophantic, co-dependent people who are more clearly identified by their association with him than by their own accomplishments.  He is a Maoist, anti-colonialist who is also a pathological narcissist.  This is a very dangerous combination.

One has to go no further than his Osowatamie, KS, speech to see the phrasology and terms that we all could find in Mao Tse-tung's Little Red Book.  Tied to this rhetoric was that of Andy Stern, who the day before the Kansas speech wrote a most revealing op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.  Both men, ironically, trashed capitalism as a failed system.  Both offered an economic paradigm so out of date with America today as to be pathetic.  They were counting on the American people not being smart enough to figure out what they were saying.  Of course, they failed in their mission.

Read more: It's About November

We have a lot going on in this country right now and a lot of people are wringing their hands over what to do. We have a Republican party that is involved in a lot of sibling rivalry right now.  However, the focus of the conservatives in this country should be on defeating Barack Obama.  First things first as my Mom always said.

Whether Mitt Romney is the presidential nominee of the republican party is not nearly as big a deal as people are making it out to be.  Sure, there are several candidates I like a lot better than Romney, but that does not mean Romney would be a bad president.  He would be ten times better than the guy we have in there right now and I can assure you we would see a massive rebound in the economy.  The jobless rate would start down and we would be able to enjoy a resurgence of good feeling and confidence in the economic system again.  Where we might need help, of course, is making sure that a Romney administration did not lose sight of the Constitution, our Founding, and what all of that means to conservatives.

The primary process has worked the way it should--center-right candidates have been pulled further to the right by the conservatives in the party.  The fact that people want to back the person they think can beat Obama is a psychological issue over which none of us have control.  Thus, we should not worry that this is where the party is going.  What matters is that the new president, regardless of who it might be, needs to be reminded constantly of the fact that we believe in limited government, a balanced budget, no new debt, a strong national defense and institutional integrity.  Get any of these wrong, and the next president will be yet another one term wonder.

Principles matter, so getting behind a particular candidate based on principle is what we should be doing.  When our guy or gal starts to fade, however, we should not just pick up our ball and go home.  We need to make sure we have done everything we can to beat Barack Hussein Obama and his progressive, Maoist, anti-colonialist followers.  We must at least start the process of getting our country back from those who would want to diminish us even further.  Willing in November is a lot more important than worrying about who might win in January.  Let's start gearing up for the dash to the finish so we can sweep the progressive vermin out of DC.

I have been heavily engaged in observing and commenting on the first in the nation presidential caucus.  Last night, about 120K Iowans went to schools, churches, community centers and even people's homes to discuss and then vote on those running for the office of President of the United States.  My own caucus experience was outstanding and for the most part everyone seemed to get through the process without much stress.   Iowa nice is a real thing, particularly on caucus night.

After observing the candidates for months and getting to talk to them individually, I chose to endorse Rick Santorum.  I won't bother you with all the details of the decision, but I will say that Santorum is by far the most consistent conservative running.  I do, however, want to share some of the process by which I came to my decision.

I had continually fielded questions about the weaknesses of the candidates and why we could not find Ronald Reagan.  Ronald Reagan is dead, but his views, principles and ideals are not.  They live in all of us who believed in what he believed in.  Reagan meant what he said and said what he meant.  He could communicate and he could get people to do things they would not otherwise do.  That is a leader.

For those who do not remember, it took Reagan 16 years to obtain the republican nomination for president.  His best and most compelling speech is arguably the one he gave in October of 1964--A Time for Choosing.  That speech is also as compelling and relevant today as it was nearly 50 years ago.  Bold colors, stark contrasts--that's what he said needed to be done by republicans to make sure the American people had a clear choice.  His words were as much about preserving the exceptionality of America as it was about the Goldwater campaign.

After spending a lot of time with Rick Santorum, I see a lot of Ronald Reagan in him.  Once people get to know him a little better, they will all come to the same conclusion I did--this man needs to be the next president of the United States.

As we close in on the start time for the Iowa caucuses, we see a lot of movement still in the polling data.  Right now, it looks like Governor Mitt Romney will take the prize, but there also appears to be a lot of upheaval under the top.  Most Iowans I know have not made up their minds, but they are getting closer.  As one candidate's fortunes ebb another one rises.

Sooner or later, Republicans will be able to focus on the narrative required to defeat Barack Obama in the general election.  The current president cannot run on his record, so we will likely see one of the most negative campaigns in American history.  Because we know what is coming, we ought to be able to deal with it.  By having clear solutions that contrast as dramatically as possible with the current policy regime is the way to win this.  Conservatism always, always works.

I do not see many people sitting on the sidelines this time around.  Those of us from the right side of the aisle will be doing all we can within the system to remove this president, his socialist administration and as many progressives as possible from public office.  We have to focus on the top, but we cannot forget the 513K elected officials who control vast reaches of federal, state and local government around the country.

The next three days or so will be exciting.  I am not sure anything definitive will be delivered next Tuesday night, but we will have completed the first step in taking back our country from those who want to destroy American values and American exceptionalism.  The fate of all free thinking and freedom loving people is at stake.  Live free or become a slave.  It's up to We The People.

When one flies for a living, as I once did, flying the final turn to landing was one of the most challenging aspects of getting a plane safely on the ground.  As much art as science, there were particular "marks" to make at various points in the final phase of the pattern.  If one comes of the perch at the right speed and altitude, then the rest of the turn is pretty much rote and easy to negotiate.  However, if there are strong crosswinds, tightened downwind leg, heavy or light jet, hot weather, etc., then one has to make adjustments along the way.  Coming into the final week of the run up to the Iowa caucuses is much the same way.  Romney and Paul may be on the perch all set up to roll out on a non-eventful final, but I suspect things may not be "standard."  There are way too many people in Iowa who have not made up their minds about this presidential thing to think we are going to have anything like a slam dunk out of the process.

The Iowa caucuses, in my mind, are not some nuanced thing where we have to be cute with our votes to make sure we back the show ponies in the field.  This is an opportunity to vote our consciences.  This is why Ron Paul will do well and why Rick Santorum will surprise a lot of folks with how well he does.  We are likely to see four or five candidates in double digits with no one likely to top 30%.  This is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Read more: Rounding the Final Turn