Having seen him in one of these events, I now know that those who are spouting the “No fire in the belly” and “he is not real impressive in person or on the stump” nonsense are not being honest with people here at FreeRepublic.
That is campaign tactics and most likely can be found across the spectrum of candidates. You have to look beyond that and look at the national acceptance, ability to organize at both the national and state level, secure endorsements of prominence from many sectors, raise funds, develop strategies, etc. etc. etc.
In 32 days the People of Iowa will begin the true selection process and two days later New Hampshire will follow suit. After that things will begin to happen quickly and many candidates will be found lacking...