According to Wired Magazine.  I personally like 10, 8, 7,4, and 2.

Here's the article:

Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2007

I've been a registered Republican since I was 18, the earliest one can register to vote in our great nation.  I've considered several times whether I should switch my party affiliation to Democrat or Independent, certainly my views are much more moderate than the vast majority of those who are part of the Republican Party.  Yet I have never made that step and 'converted'.

I don't think, when I look back on my voting record and note when I started voting more Independent and more Democratic that I was abandoning my party.  Yes, my political views have changed, greatly, since I first registered.  I don't think the basis for my beliefs have changed, I think I still hold true to the same basic ideals, but that my views of the world, our nation, and all peoples has matured and become wiser.  I feel like my party has abandoned me.  I also feel like the Democratic Party has moved closer to the metaphorical center of the political XY axis of beliefs. 

What does all of this have to do with anything really?  Well, it has to do with the 2008 presidential election.  I vote.  I vote in almost every election.  I vote on the off years and I vote and take seriously every single one of those gorram judges that they list on our cards every time we go in.  I also read all of the various Acts that are up for vote and seriously research them.  If I did any less I don't think I would deserve my U.S. citizenship.  I don't think a lot of Americans deserve their citizenships.  I have failed to vote when there are city only elections, and bonds, although I've voted in a few of those, but I've definitely voted during every state level election and all of the national elections.

Taking elections seriously and taking, perhaps, the most important presidential election I will ever have the chance to vote in even more seriously I have been paying a lot of attention to the race so far.  I am not a professional pundit, and I don't have a job that involves politics in any sense, so it is difficult sometimes to watch the debates, but with the beauty of the Internet I have been able to watch them when I was able and they have been incredibly eye-opening.

I am still not pleased, in any sense, with the vast majority of Republican Candidates, they're all double-talking spin doctors who speak to the talking points and the party line and not to We the People.  The Democrats are only a little better.  As some of you may know, I was a hard-core John McCain supporter for years.  McCain embodied, to me, the very ideals of a straight-talking clean-up corruption sort of politician we've all needed for decades.  That has changed dramatically in the last four years.  The man is a shell of his former self and as mealy mouthed as they come.  Giuliani, is almost the opposite of McCain in the sense of how horrible a person.  Don't get me wrong, both men are terrible politicians that don't deserve a single vote come the primaries.  Giuliani appears strong and resolute while McCain appears old and befuddled, but Giuliani is as worthless as McCain, just in reverse.  Outwardly Giuliani appears great and is hollow within, McCain appears weak on the surface while there is probably still a core of some sort of noble man inside...makes you think of Return of the Jedi.  Let's not even get me started on 'my poor great-grandpa was a polygamist' Mitt Romney.

However, that is not why I am writing this post.  I am writing because there has been one Republican that has stood out from the Entire pack of the nominees.  His name is Ron Paul.  He's never stepped down to slinging mud at the other debaters, he speaks to the people, and he sure as hell knows what he's talking about.  The man positively sounds like he's never drunken of the Republican Red State Kool-Aid, and I am impressed. 

If you are in any way serious about these elections I'd urge you to at the very least watch the video that is on the front page of Ron Paul's website that I have linked to.  Tell me what you think.  No, I don't agree with every position he holds, he was a gorram libertarian candidate a few years back, but he's as straight talking as they come so far, and I like it!

I'll post soon about who I'm excited about in regards to the Democratic Candidate.  They have an interesting field over there too, and I'd absolutely die from indecision if I got a Ron Paul vs. two or three of those guys over there.  More on that later.

Does this declaration mean I am going to vote for Paul?  Good Heavens No!  I've got months and months to go before the election.  As Tokugawa said, "One must wait until the very last moment when the chance has almost past then strike!"  I will be waiting, but I am tipping my hand now because I am curious about what others thinks.