David Brooks, a conservative by New York Times standards, offers TIME his thoughts about the Republican presidential contenders:
I’m a little meh. Some people are interesting, like Newt Gingrich, but Newt Gingrich is not going to be President. I wouldn’t let that guy run a 7-Eleven, let alone a country. No management skills. There are a couple leaders: Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Mitch Daniels. Haley Barbour’s a good governor, but he looks like the kind of guy Michael Moore would cast: Southern guy, heavy guy, was a tobacco lobbyist. I just don’t think that’s going to fly.