There goes my guy ....

Well ... time to look again.

After spending much of his money to finish a distant third in the Ames Straw Poll, Tim Pawlenty ended his presidential bid Sunday.

"We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward and that didn't happen, so I'm announcing on your show that I'm ending my campaign for president," the former governor said on "This Week."

The Minnesota Republican revealed his decision on an early morning conference call with supporters, an aide told POLITICO.

"I wish it would have been different, but obviously the pathway forward for me doesn't really exist, so we're going to end the campaign," Pawlenty told ABC's Jake Tapper.

Back in 2008, at least my guy made it to the Primaries (Giuliani). Last time my #2 was Romney - but for now I am going to stay in my whaleboat for awhile until I decide which ship to shift my flag to.

My basic requirements, not that different than 2008:

- First, I need someone with a successful record as a leader and executive. That means a governor or mayor of a state-like city, re: NYC.
- Second, I need a fixer. Someone with a record of fixing existing problems lessor men/women would not fix.
- Third, I need someone with a thick skin who also realizes it isn't about him/her.

So, let's look at the rest.

Romney: meets all the criteria, but I don't know if I really trust him to stick to his guns. I like him, but I think his time may have passes.

Huntsman: only meets #1. When someone mentions country club Republican, he pops in my mind. I grew up in a country club; no thank you.

Bachmann: meets none of my requirements. More qualified than Obama was at this stage, but not really that much.

Paul: really? Now is not the time for the Republican Party to enjoy a hobby loss like this. Maybe the next generation.

Cain: should have concentrated to being elected to the legislative branch. Not ready for the job. Nice guy, but not ready.

Santorum: boutique candidate that meets none of my criteria. Next.

Gingrich: he isn't campaigning for President - he is on a book tour. He should play golf with Clinton or something. Anyway, someone in his middle-age who treats wives like a college junior treats girlfriends is all the I&W I need.

McCotter: I like him a lot, but only if we lived in a different country; he doesn't meet 2/3 of my criteria.

Perry: new kid on the block - but I say this as a Southerner - the next Republican candidate does not need a Texas accent. That being said, he meets 2.5 of my 3 criteria - that puts him at the top.

So, there I go - sitting there deciding which ship I can best fight from.

First Class: Romney, Perry.
Second Class: ungh. None.
Third Class: McCotter, Bachmann, Huntsman.
Others: yadda, yadda, yadda.

If Perry runs ....

... I might have to shift my support from T-Paw to him.

Why? Simple - we have similar tastes in toys.

Perry ... carr(ies) his .380 Ruger - loaded with hollow-point bullets - when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He'd also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area.
...
"I'm enjoying the run when something catches my eye and it's this coyote. I know he knows I'm there. He never looks at me, he is laser-locked on that dog," Perry said.

"I holler and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go," he said.

Perry said the laser-pointer helped make a quick, clean kill.

"It was not in a lot of pain," he said. "It pretty much went down at that particular juncture."
...
The governor left the coyote where it fell.

"He became mulch," Perry said.

I'm sorry - how can I not vote for him?

Jack Welch goes Salamander

All in for T-Paw!

Watch it all. It is what drew me to Pawlenty early.

Hope & Change

Yea ... I like that better than this.

I guess it is easier and more fun to run for President than actually to be President.

---

BTW, I showed my cards early last time - and I'll do it again.

For review, in 2008 I went from Giuliani, to Romney, to McCain. For 2012, I've already marked my spot for reasons not too different than 2008.

Even more than 2008 we need a President who is not afraid of making hard calls, being called names, and has a proven track record as a Chief Executive. That is, after all, what the President is - a Chief Executive. If you have a President who does not have experience excelling as a Chief Executive, well, you now know what that looks like.

For the record; count Sal in T-Paw's corner.

Why Germany will rise ....

... and we will fall; relatively.

German voters handed conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel a second term and a chance to create new center-right government Sunday, while her center-left rivals suffered a historic defeat in the national election.

Merkel succeeded in ending her "grand coalition" with the center-left Social Democrats led by challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the current foreign minister, according to television projections. She can now form a government with the pro-business Free Democrats, who performed very strongly.

"We have achieved something great," a beaming Merkel told supporters. "We have managed to achieve our election aim of a stable majority in Germany for a new government."

She vowed to hold "swift and decisive" coalition talks with the Free Democrats' leader, Guido Westerwelle, who has been widely tipped as Germany's next foreign minister.

Merkel has argued that a change of coalition was needed to ensure stronger economic growth as Germany emerges from a deep recession. In joining with the Free Democrats, she hopes to cut taxes and halt a plan to shut down Germany's nuclear power plants by 2021.

They are heading in the proven path to economic success, as we head down the proven path to inflation and debt-slavery.

We will have to wait. 2010, if the Dems lose the House, could provide a holding action until 2012. If we are lucky enough to get a fixer like Romney or Pawlenty in 2012, then we can start the long path to break even.

We will see. Otherwise - Argentina awaits.

---

Oh, as side note. A German named Guido. Does that sound like the start of a bar joke - or is it just me?

So, this German guy named Guido goes into a bar ...