Conservative Pundits Punting all Over Iowa

Wow!

The Iowa caucuses have cast conservative pundits into a bind of compromise and calculation.

Ann Coulter has pledged for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as the only viable candidate who can competitively and successfully best Barack Obama. She is not hedging her bets for a stronger candidate, so focused is she on the repeal of ObamaCare and staunch opposition to illegal immigration

George Will, standard bearer for "little c" conservatism with "a capital c" seriousness, has not held back his revulsion for tepid front runner Mitt Romney, yet has espoused Utah Governor (and interminable also ran) Jon Huntsman as the most conservative candidate. In last week's episode of ABC's "This Week", he evinced once again his sorrow that his ideal candidate Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels chose to bow out rather than throw his hat in the Presidential ring.

Thomas Sowell has gone all out for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, dismissing his private perversions for his public persuasions in the House, where he engineered the GOP resurgence of 1994, followed by a welfare reform and a balanced budget. His pining plight in last week's newspapers stands in stark contrast to his damning indictment of the former Georgia Congressman's "humane" argument for a qualified amnesty toward illegal immigrants in the United States, a deal-breaker for the Tea Party core that fled in droves from the debate-flubbing "Dream Act" champion Rick Perry.

Michael Medved has misconstrued libertarian Congressman Ron Paul's foreign policy, among other views. Ron Paul has presented the most consistent and cohesive presidential program, yet even that has not prevented Jonah Goldberg from demonizing the pretending persuasion paralysis that would grip a Paul Presidency, since the Congressman up to now has not commanded a dedicated caucus of free market adherents among his colleagues in the House.

Even Jeffrey Hawkins has admitted a calculate disdain for the Texas Congressman.

Charles Krauthammer has seesawed between Mitt and Newt, acknowledging the weakness of the current field of candidates. MSNBC journalist Chris Matthews has succinctly outlined the obvious: no GOP Presidential candidate commands the respect of a decent following because each nominee lacks one ore more of the following core elements:

1. A robust foreign policy -- national conservatives

2. A consistent record on Social Issues -- social conservatives

3. A sound economic policy -- fiscal conservatives

4. Electibility

I would dispute the fourth element, only because no matter how much President Obama surges back to decent polling numbers, his awful handling of domestic, economic, and foreign policy has all but guaranteed him a one-term presidency.

So, commentators all over the conservative map have not settled in grand uniformity on one candidate. Even Glenn Beck has floated the viability of single-ditch Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a long-shot with some rise in the current polls out of Iowa.

This race is too close to call, but one thing is for sure: with the rise of invasive Internet media and non-stop reporting, the exhaustive immediacy of reporting on up-to-date trends may have killed the efficacy of waging a national campaign while commanding the attention of an increasingly distracted electorate on pins and needles for month before any real voting takes place.