The conventional wisdom is that there are no "good choices" in the GOP primary, epsecially for religious conservatives. Hell, I even did a toon about it.

But I've never completely understood where this talking point comes from. Frankly, I think it's a largely media-constructed phony crisis. They have decreed who the front runners are, then they make a new story about how none of the front runners are "good enough" for the base. Very circular logic.

Recent drop-out Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee are both cookie-cutter Republicans who are actually farther to the right than Bush on most issues. Why they aren't doing better, or taken more seriously, is beyond me. Although there are signs things could be changing for Huckabee...