GOP Picture Grows Murky

With U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, out of the race for the White House, the question becomes where will social conservatives go.

It is not as if they had no other options than Brownback. But the social conservatives have been split between several candidates, and with one of them gone the others stand to gain.

Several of the current GOP Presidential hopefuls could potentially benefit from Brownback's departure, given their pro-life stance. These include Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney.

Even John McCain could benefit, given his lifelong support of right-to-life.

Giuliani's front-runner status in national polls cannot be trusted at this point, given that the numbers have tended to swing wildly.

Currently some polls show Giuliani with a 10-point lead over 2nd place contender Fred Thompson. Yet Giuliani's problems are mounting with some of his views on social issues.

Further, some GOP activists are beginning to openly question the Fred Thompson candidacy. It seems that more than a few of the GOP faithful were miffed that Thompson gave a very short speech to a forum in Florida on Saturday, in contrast to the other candidates.

Thompson spoke for only a few minutes and then abruptly left the stage, leaving many scratching their heads.

In one of the early primary states, South Carolina, the field of front-runners is getting crowded. Thompson, Huckabee, and Romney are within the margin of error to be considered a statistical tie.

Both Romney and Giuliani are counting on the early primaries to gain traction, such as Iowa and Florida. Romney leads in Iowa while Giuliani leads in Florida. Yet Giuliani polled a dismal eighth at a GOP forum in D.C. early in the day on Saturday.

Does this mean that a truly dark horse could come galloping to the front to save the day? Ron Paul waits in the wings despite the nervousness many GOP operatives feel about his candidacy.

The mere fact that the GOP field is this murkey with a little over 2 months to go to the primary season is reason to believe that the field is wide-open.