Here Come New Challengers

The race for the Republican presidential nomination has been considerably more volatile than the Democratic race so far. While the withdrawals of Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson temporarily narrowed the field during the summer, Fred Thompson and Alan Keyes have recently made their campaigns official, and Newt Gingrich has stated that he, too, will enter the race if he can raise $30 million dollars in three weeks. About all we need now is for Al Gore to enliven the Democratic side of things and we should have a presidential primary season for the ages on our hands. My guess is Gore and Gingrich won't end up as candidates, but I welcome Fred Thompson and Alan Keyes into the race. I'm particularly intrigued at the prospect of watching Keyes in future GOP debates. He is a charismatic firebrand and religious conservative who is not afraid of aggressive politics; I'm very curious to see if he will attack Rudy Giuliani and perhaps Mitt Romney more aggressively than Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee have to this point.

The All-American Republican Presidential Forum this week should be a good showcase for Keyes as well as Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee. Although Giuliani, Romney, John McCain, Tom Tancredo, and (least forgivably, in my opinion) Fred Thompson will miss the debate that will be broadcast both on PBS and online, the second-tier candidates will have the stage to themselves on Thursday, September 27th, at 8 PM CST. While it is disappointing that all the top-tier candidates are skipping this debate considering that the Democratic version of this event was so well-attended, I am interested to see how this group of candidates takes advantage of the opportunity a small debate offers each of them. Perhaps even Duncan Hunter will generate some excitement! Stranger things have happened...I think.