March Madness 2006!!!! - Starting March 13th

First, Congressional Districts 1-7 are finished.

That said, it's time once again for March Madness!!! For Spartan political fans, it's great twice over. For basketball, watch CBS(About the only time I'll say that).

However for political junkies, click on this link and go to Survey St Louis. There is a field of 64 notable republicans running for the "presidency" using the NCAA bracket format. Voting is done everyday until the finals, much like the NCAA's. You need an account to vote in this.

The brackets are as follows.

West
1. JC Watts
16. Jim Gilmore

8. Norm Coleman
9. Tommmy Franks

5. Dick Cheney
12. Mike Huckabee

4. Tom Coburn
13. J. Kenneth Blackwell

I wish they didn't match up Coburn and Blackwell since they are two of my favorites. Coburn is one of my favorite senators and has a real independent conservative streak there. Blackwell is the only republican standing up to RINO Taft's establishment in Ohio. Taft's so bad, that'd I'd vote for Granholm over him.

6. George Pataki
11. Craig Benson

3. Rick Santorum
14. Steve Forbes

7. Tim Pawlenty
10. John Roberts

2. Jeb Bush
15. John Kasich

Steve Forbes would have been my primary choice in 2000 if he ran. Tim Pawlenty is a good governor out in Minnesota. Kasich's economic leadership in Congress is sorely missed.

NORTH:
1. Bill Frist
16. Mike Pence

8. Tommy Thompson
9. Arnold Schwarzenegger

5. Rudy Giuliani
12. Kay Bailey Hutchinson

4. Tom Ridge
13. George Voinovich

Pence is the leading fiscal conservative in congress. Thompson did wonders with Wisconsin's welfare system.

6. Mitt Romney
11. John Kyl

3. John Thune
14. Christi Todd Whitman

7. Sean Hannity
10. Gary Bauer

2. Condi Rice
15. Mike Rounds

Over on the EAST

1. Newt Gingrich
16. John Danforth

8. Mitch Daniels
9. Alberto Gonzales

5. John McCain
12. Dirk Kempthorne

4. Elizabeth Dole
13. John Boehner

Go Dirk! Go Boehner!

6. Pat Buchanan
11. Gordon Smith

3. Mark Racicot
13. Bob Ehrlich

7. Jack Kemp
10. Dan Quayle

2. Tom Tancredo
15. Rick Perry

I'm tempted to vote for Buchanan and Tancredo just to be a smart alec.

Finally, The South

1. Haley Barbour
16. Chris Cox

8. Chuck Grassley
9. John Sununu

5. George Allen
12. Judd Gregg

4. Bill Owens
13. Joe Scarborough

Barbour disapointed a lot of people when he said he wasn't running for president. Allen did well in his speech in Michigan. He also oppposed the bridge to nowhere. Bill Owens flew off the radar screen for 2008 after a lot of early hype. I wonder what happened there.

6. Lindsey Graham
11. Chuck Hagel

3. Sam Brownback
14. Mark Sanford

7. Colin Powell
11. John Ashcroft

2. Dennis Hastert
15. Fred Thompson

Sam Brownback is a good guy, but Sanford's my first choice for president due to his economic conservatism. Vetoing a pork bill from one's own political party is gutsy and shows backbone. Ashcroft disapointed me bigtime as AG. He was a good senator, but went out and became a big government AG much like his predecessor in Janet Reno. I expected much better from him.

Last year's final 4 were Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour, Jeb Bush, and J.C. Watts. The winner was Haley Barbour over J.C. Watts. You need to create an account to vote.