The Republican race so far has been topsy-turvy. Rick Santorum won Iowa. Mitt Romney won New Hampshire and Florida. Newt Gingrich won South Carolina. Ron Paul didn’t win anything. The race so far has not indicated a clear Republican leader, but I believe that might have changed with Florida — a change brought about by Romney’s huge advertising campaign. 
CNN reporter John King kicked off the South Carolina debate by asking Gingrich about the interview ABC conducted with Gingrich’s ex-wife. Gingrich blasted King for trying to deviate from the important topics and was rewarded with a huge standing ovation. Does Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina indicate that America is tired of the character assassination of our political figures? Does his victory mean that the issues are what Americans say are important? 
Obviously not. Florida was a good indication that the person with the most money and the most unscrupulous campaign ads will win. Political ads are becoming dishonest, unfair, immoral and dishonest. 
Paul has some great ideas on the economy, but his foreign-policy concepts are way off the mark. Santorum is an excellent orator, but in recent debates, he spent more time slamming his opponents than discussing the issues. I believe this hurt him. His biggest problem is that he is too far to the right to beat President Barack Obama. Both of these candidates should drop out of the race. 
Romney is too much like President Obama, especially when it comes to health-care reform. Will he really reverse ObamaCare, since he supports a universal health-care system? On the positive side, he believes in alternate sources of energy, such as nuclear energy, biodiesel and ethanol, along with exploiting more domestic sources of oil.
Donald Trump slams China every chance he gets, but supports Romney, who thinks that we should try to make China a free economy, which is against their business policies — policies that are crushing us because we cannot be competitive. 
My favorite is Gingrich. He’s been there and done that. He knows how the system works and how to get bipartisan cooperation to accomplish his goals. He is the best debater to go against President Obama because Gingrich is a published historian. He is not perfect, but we should remember what Jesus said in the New English version of the Bible, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone.”
Gingrich believes in downsizing the government, reducing government spending and balancing the budget. He believes — like I do — that workers have rights, but unions have outlived their usefulness. He believes the Supreme Court should leave the Constitution alone, as our rights come from God, not the government.
His contract with America, from supporting the Second Amendment to eliminating oppressive government regulations and taxes, is conservative thinking. Gingrich has identified education as the No. 1 factor in our future prosperity. 
Whoever gets the Republican nod must be prepared to face a billion-dollar war chest from President Obama and ads that are much more deceitful than we’ve seen so far.
Folks, we haven’t seen anything yet, but one thing is for sure: The success or failure of this nation depends on our next presidential election.

Calderone is a conservative who lives in Midway. He is a professional salesperson and for 30 years has written articles for trade publications in various fields.