I watched many of the Republican Presidential hopefuls on parade in Iowa. Greta Van Susterin interviewed 5 of them and my impression is that NONE of these is another Reagan. All Republicans are asking "Who is the next Reagan?" Well, Reagan's two most important qualities were 1) that he had a fiery DETERMINATION to defeat an enemy, and 2) that he had a DETERMINATION to restore America's STRENGTH, PRIDE, and RESPECT among ourselves and in the world. His great Faith, Humor, and Persona were added bonuses, but I don't think God is necessarily demanding those in His next "Reagan Pick". Yes I said it. It appears to me that God is about to pick another Reagan for us because we are repeating the Carter / Reagan cycle. He has done this at various times in history because we need to learn the difference between a LOSER and a WINNER. The Great Big Picture of what God is doing with humanity, aside from adding us as members of His Family, is that He is both looking for existing WINNERS and developing potential WINNERS from those willing to step up to the challenge. His is the ultimate Marine Corps: He's looking for a few good MEN. not a few good GIRLIE-MEN. All of the potential candidates so far fail miserably and embarassingly -- except one that is overlooked and not taken seriously by the "Great Punditry" of The Right. Let's look at each:

Newt Gingrich said he "needs to get the trust of the people" -- hardly a Firey stance. He also let his wife lead as he followed her in his conversion to Catholicism. That suggests "girlie-man" to me. He's a good college professor and has good ideas, but thinking too much will not impress the Chinese or the islamicists.

Rick Santorum is too boyish. He's not tough and has the "sweet boy next door" look and persona. The Chinese and islamists would laugh at him.

Herman Cain has NO chance. If he were running against Barack, Barack would win by 80% to 20%. A black conservative just would never get that 94% black vote. His plans for office are, typically for most of these candidates, focused so much on the minutiae of numbers and ideas that he misses the IMPORTANCE of those two Reagan qualities I listed above. Take care of those two and it will be amazing how the other problems will seem to magically fall in line.

Tim Pawlenty is another like Santorum. He's a great guy with the same "sweet boyish" looks. He comes across as too soft and gentle. The Chinese and islamists would also laugh at him.

Former Gov. Buddy Roemer is at least for energy independence, but then, so are all of them. I just sense that he has no chance.

Of others that were not in Iowa, Sarah Palin is too womanly to be another Reagan. She should either be a Congresswoman or be in a Cabinet position for energy issues. But she should not be a President because she would embolden the islamicists. Her persona and voice mannerisms come across as those of a Kindergarten teacher talking to her class. Mike Huckabee is too populist and accomodating to liberals. As such, he reminds me of Jimmy Carter's persona as he sucked up to every dictator in the world. Mike would compromise everywhere he could so that everyone from all sides would speak well of him. The Chinese and the islamicists would use that to achieve further stealthy inroads into our tent. Mitt Romney, the apparent front runner may have the best chance over all the above, but I sense that he also falls short on the two big Reagan qualities above. I can't see him instilling FEAR in enemies. I can't see him holding fast without compromising. And, I can't see him as a man of original ideas. I may be wrong about him, but we need an IDEA MAN who is FEARED and RESPECTED.

There may be one man who meets all the requirements, yet is not taken seriously. I felt the same about him until I heard Rush Limbaugh interview this man on the Rush radio show over a week ago. I was stirred to hear Donald Trump rant and rave about our trade war with China, what he would (with his business acumen) do about our collapsing dollar, and what he would do to restore RESPECT to America in the world. So far, he is the only one of the hopefuls who has said he would rebuild the military (as Reagan had to do after Carter's destruction of it. Now BO has repeated that destruction). He talked about more issues, but what impressed me was his PASSION and Fireyness! I thought, "All the others speak softly and carry a wet noodle. This guy would carry a big stick and not know HOW to speak softly". Actually, the very first Carter / Reagan cycle was in 1,000 BC when God provided Israel first with King Saul followed by the boy David. God then knew exactly what He was trying to teach. It will be fascinating to watch whether we really will have another Carter / Reagan cycle.

--RPC, Houston, TX