I have nothing against Ron Paul, but he is a liberal Republican and is therefore un-electable. Democrats won't cross party lines to vote for him and the conservative Republican base won't vote for him. He is nothing more than a Republican spoiler unfortunately.
The tea party could not get a presidential nomination to be elected either (IMO); they are seen as too extremist by Democrats AND Republicans. The best bet for a Tea Party candidate would be as VP.
I think the two most electable Republican candidates are Romney and Perry. Assuming Perry wins the nomination (big assumption but that is how I think it's going down) I'd really like a Perry/McCain ticket, though I think that is unlikely. So my next preference would be a Perry/Hailey ticket or a Perry/Giuliani ticket.
So what do I think of Perry? I think he has a good chance of gaining wide-spread Republican support for a 2012 election, and as I'd like to see a Republican in office, I would vote for him.
