Real quick, since Politico has an article up on Romney, I thought I’d share my top five choices (so far) for the 2012 Presidential campaign. Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Mitt Romney: Has the talent, the skill, the looks, the charm, the money, and the organization. Plus, he’s conservative. Despite his straying from that ideology in the past, it appears he learned his lessons from it and moved to the right where he belongs (now, just how sincere that move was I can’t tell you for sure, but it appears genuine at the moment). Only problem I can see is his religion. I think people would have a problem with his Mormonism (I don’t, I couldn’t care less what religion a candidate is, just as long as he has one and believes in God), and that may cost him at the polls.

2) Newt Gingrich: Although he has been tainted by scandals in years past, Newt remains probably one of the few politicians on the right who is (almost) a pure conservative. Highly doubtful that he’d run, but I’d vote for him if he could gain the nomination.

3) Fred Thompson: Was my original pick over Romney last time around, but his lazy-style of campaigning guaranteed that he wouldn’t last very long. It was like he was just going through the motions most of the time. If he can kick it in gear and get fired up, and fire up fellow Republicans, he’d be a great candidate and a great president. If he can’t, or for some reason refuses to, then he shouldn’t even bother.

4) Haley Barbour: Currently the governor of Mississippi, he has a very conservative track record, especially in regards to spending and deficits.

5) General David Petraeus: Top-notch military man, perhaps not a Reagan-conservative or even an Eisenhower-conservative, he still knows how to get things done. I have no idea whether he is a Republican or a Democrat, but I will say that even if he is a Democrat, I think he would be a good president, as long as he wasn’t a far-left liberal (I can hardly believe that would be the case, though).

On a related note, here are my top five “Not just no, but HELL NO!” candidates:

1) Sarah Palin: Although I like her, I don’t think she’s experienced enough in national politics to be Commander-in-Chief. This may change as we get closer to 2012, though, so keep an eye on her.

2) Mike Huckabee: Not a conservative, but he plays one on t.v. (usually Saturday Night Live).

3) Rudy Giuliani: Would be as bad a choice as McCain was.

4) Ron Paul: I like my crazy in measured doses, thank you very much.

5) Jeb Bush: We’ve had enough moderate Bush family members to last us a lifetime, thank you very much.

Feel free to add your own list on the comments or, if you have a blog, write your own list and trackback to this post.