Last night I pulled a 1/2 inch-long french fry out of Bryant's nose. It was so far up his nasal cavity that tweezers and a flashlight were required. As I began pulling and it just kept coming and coming, I truly felt I would be sick. There are some things God meant to be in our noses. I'm quite sure Combo #5 was not one of them.

But I've had a couple of requests to quit discussing all the interesting things going on in my family life and get back to the important stuff, like Decision 2008. Apparently, some of you don't really care about Leigh Ann the mommy and are only interested in Leigh Ann the policital science enthusiast. I guess I'm okay with that. I can multi-task. Just know that as I type this I'm wondering if I got all the pieces of pink animal cracker out of Bry's nose before he went down for his nap.

So I have a prediction to make. I may be going out on a limb, but it seems reasonable to me. The way things look right now, it's pretty safe to say that McCain is going to be the Republican nominee. (Imagine me coughing the word "McCain" as I type it. It hurts.) In Florida, votes that might have gone to Romney went to Giuliani. Votes that might have gone to Romney went to Huckabee. Giuliani has gotten out and endorsed McCain. Huckabee apparently has no plans to get out, at least not until after Super Tuesday.

I believe that Huckabee is purposefully staying in the race to split the votes away from Romney. None of those guys like him for some reason. He seems to be the kid on the playground that everybody picks on. Probably because he has more money than all of them put together, and that just doesn't seem fair. Or maybe because he's better looking. I don't know. But the fact is they don't like him and want him out of there.

I know a lot of people who don't like Romney based on the Mormon thing. I personally don't have a problem with this. If you haven't read the speech he gave last December on his views of religion and politics, please do so. I think you will be impressed, and I don't think you'll come away with the idea that he plans to turn the country into the United Followers of Joseph Smith.

Mitt Romney is a wealthy guy. But this didn't come to him without hard work. He worked for many years for a management consulting firm and then a private equity investment firm, which bought up or invested in such companies as Staples, Domino's, Sealy Corporation and Sports Authority. His original company asked him to come back in 1990 when they were facing financial collapse. He was able to completely turn the company around within a year to making a profit, all without layoffs or losing partners.

As the president and CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT, Mr. Romney inherited a mess. Remember the scandal of those Olympics about the bribery of officials? When the CEO/president stepped down, Mitt Romney was brought in. He was facing a $379 million revenue shortage, and plans were being made to scale back. Mr. Romney was able to turn this around, instill a post-9-11 $300 million security budget, and still manage to make the games a $100 million profit. He personally donated $1 million to the games, and donated his salary to charity. You can read about this in his book, "Turnaround."

As Governor of Massachusetts, Romney faced a $1.3 billion defecit when he took office in 2003. By 2006, with massive spending cuts and various taxes, the state was back to a $700 million surplus and he was able to cut taxes. With our economy in apparent trouble, he would bring a wealth of experience to the table.

The man is not perfect. But he clearly knows how to lead and get things done. His Mormonism doesn't bother me, other than the fact that I wish he knew the Truth. Mormons have great family values and strong faith. Yes, they believe in some things I find a bit wacky. But, again, I do not think his personal beliefs would be imposed upon me, nor do I think they would affect his ability to be a good president. I'd rather have a Mormon in the office than a lot of other things.

So am I endorsing Romney? I don't know. But I'm probably going to vote for him.

John McCain is winning right now. I'm not quite sure how this happened, considering his candidacy was in the toilet about 8 months ago. The most likely reason he's winning is because the Republican base is fractured all over the place. I'm convinced that Huckabee is staying in to help McCain beat Romney. And here's why I think that is.

It occurred to me this morning that there's probably a very good reason for this backroom deal McCain and Huckabee have going on. At first I thought the love fest between Giuliani and McCain earlier this week might indicate that we were going to see a McCain-Giuliani ticket. But I don't think so anymore. I think we are going to have a McCain-Huckabee ticket. Huckabee will supposedly bring McCain what he needs most, which are conservative voters. He brings the South. He brings the Evangelicals. He brings social conservatives. McCain is none of those things. So I think it will be irresistable to him.

Is there anything good about John McCain? Yes. You have to be impressed with his record on foreign policy and Iraq. I do believe that he will allow our military the freedom to do what needs to be done to win. And that is hugely important to me. Obama wants to start bringing the troops home the day after he gets elected. That scares me. I believe McCain will be tough with Iran, and any other enemy that comes forward. I feel pretty good about him being in charge of the war on terror.

But in every other way the man is a Democrat. McCain-Feingold is one of the most blatant attacks on free speech this country has ever seen. It is specifically the reason Mitt Romney was unable to run ads defending himself against the lie McCain put out there a couple of days before the Florida primary that Romney was a proponent of timetables in Iraq.

McCain-Kennedy was an attempt to quickly shove an amnesty plan for illegal immigrants through the system without giving Americans the right of protest. Protest, they did, and the bill died an unpleasant death. McCain proved himself to have contempt for the conservative wing of the Repulican party throughout that very ugly process, which is why he's struggling so much right now.

McCain-Lieberman is an attempt to cap greenhouse emissions in order to save the world from global warming. Need I say more?

When Governor Schwarzeneggar endorsed him earlier today, his reason for doing so was because McCain has proven over and over that he is willing to reach across the aisle and work to get things done. That would be great if he didn't seem to be the one giving in on everything. Compromise is one thing. Bending over just to get your name on legislation is another.

In summary, if McCain gets the nomination, I will vote for him. I will do so because I believe our military needs him. I feel that with all we have at stake, we need a guy in the White House who can recognize our enemy and be willing to do what it takes to fight. But I will not be putting a sign in my yard or on my car, drinking out of a McCain-Huckabee coffee mug or proudly sporting an "M" tee-shirt. It will be duty, not passion. Kind of like when the Clintons consummated their marriage.