What do you guys think?
I think President Hinckley put it best: Vote for the candidate who best represents your ideas of good government.
That said, one factor in deciding who to vote for should be electability. It seems silly to vote for the exact match to your political beliefs if the candidate has 0.2% chance of winning.
It's most realistic to support the guy who's near the top and matches your ideals most of the time.
Reagan wasn't great because he was perfect, but because he did most of what he did very well, and for the right reasons.
I also think it's important we start distancing ourself from Bush. IMHO, he's been a huge disappointment, both in his breathtaking executive incompetence and in his failure to stand up for conservative principles. He justly deserves his abysmal approval ratings.
Running as pro-Bush would be the kiss of death in the general election for whoever ends up as the GOP nominee in 2008, given how much the public dislikes him. Romney has distanced himself a bit from Bush already, though not too much, which is the right strategy for the primary. You don't want to look disloyal to the party base. When he gets the nomination, he will need to draw as many distinctions between himself and Bush as possible. We cannot afford to have 2008 be a referendum on the Bush presidency, because if it turns out that way, we will surely lose. Our candidate should avoid all public appearances with the president. If possible, we should ban all members of the Bush family from the GOP convention next summer, though I realize that's probably a fantasy.
On the other hand, we can't have the GOP candidate run as Hilary light. He needs to show he's a true conservative, only of a drastically different variety than the current president.