I've been trying to reconcile my attitude towards McCain with my knowledge about the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law...

If he evinced attitudes like those shown in the article towards the campaign-finance law, I would whole-heartedly switch from Thompson to McCain.

Right now, I like Thompson the most for his intellectual abilities and Federalist attitude. Among the remainder, I dislike McCain the least.

McCain's heroism in the Hanoi Hilton is not the least diminished by the acknowledgment that he would make a terrible president.

It's not just the trashing of the first amendment that he has to answer for. There is also his opposition to the Bush tax cuts which he voted against in 2001 and in 2003 (calling them tax cuts for the rich), his obstruction of conservative judges, his tendency to support liberal Democrat gun control laws, his sanctimonious attacks on his fellow Republicans (especially conservative ones), and his cameo suckups with the main stream media.

He has been on the wrong side, meaning the liberal side, of too many important issues. Quite simply, he is not a conservative, or not much of one.

Yes, as in the acknowledgment of his mistake in the Confederate Flag matter, he has flashes of high moral character seldom observed in politicians of any stripe. But he too often flashes in the other direction also. This country cannot stand another four, or maybe eight, years of a Republican who is not a conservative and tends to side with liberal Democrats about half, or more, of the time.

McCain's brain is in too much of a state of confusion, too much of the time. I'm sticking with Thompson.

McCain and Guliani both scare me. They exhibit too much of the "man on a horse" mindset, and their supporters seem to support them just because of that.

Rudy's just a NY jerk, but I blame too many years as a Navy officer for instilling a permanent swelled head in McCain. ;-)