Presidential elections

I'm wondering about Ron Paul. Anyone have any thoughts? I read what seem to be good things about him, yet I still know very little about him. The first time I saw one of his political signs I asked my husband "Who's Ron Paul?" I thought it sounded like some kind of a joke...you know...RuPaul? Then after doing a little research I found that he's a legitimate Republican candidate for President, who currently serves as a U.S. Congressman from Texas.

In Washington state it used to be that you had to vote by party line in the primaries; one party or another, but not a combination. This has been challenged, I believe, all the way to the Supreme Court, and to be honest I don't really even know what the rules are now. I do know that I really disliked this policy when it was instituted.

My husband says the reasons for these rules are simple...If you have a strong contender in the party of your choice, many people would vote for the weaker contender in the opposing party during the primary, hoping that in the general election their strong candidate would be running against the weaker of the other party's candidates and ensuring a greater likelihood that their preferred candidate would win the general election.

For instance, in the last election President Bush was the strongest of the Republican candidates, given that he was the incumbent. Republicans in our state could have voted for the weakest Democrat in the primary, hoping to pit him against President Bush, and ensuring a victory for the Republicans. I feel I ought to be able to vote for whomever I want, regardless of party affiliation. Sometimes, in the past, I have voted a combination of Republican and Democrat, particularly when it came to state senate elections.

As much as I dislike political signs springing up on every available corner and roadside, there's a certain excitement and optimism brewing with the approaching presidential elections. Whoever I'm going to vote for remains to be seen, but you can be assured I WILL vote!