Although we’re some 14 months out of the 2012 presidential election, knowing  who will be facing President Barack Obama is still up in the air.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry initial splash garnered him a lot of  attention and a bump in the polls, but some are saying that luster has worn off.  On this weekend’s broadcast of “Inside Washington,” Washington Post columnist  Charles Krauthammer, who admitted he wasn’t sold on Perry, seems to be leaning  toward former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
“I think what has been said is correct – Romney is polished,” Krauthammer  said. “In the end, Republicans are going to have to decide whether they want  authenticity or electability. And that is really where it is. I mean, it often  is a choice. Democrats have had that in the past with Howard Dean and others. You often have to come down and  say, ‘Which way are you going to go?’ Do you want the guy that you can rely on  ideologically on everything or with the guy that might have a better chance of  winning?”
And according to Krauthammer, Romney seems to have the edge when it comes to  applying the so-called William Buckley rule.
“I would invoke the Buckley rule,” Krauthammer continued. “He always said ‘I  vote for the most conservative candidate who can win.’ And I think people have  to make a judgment. In 1980, Reagan had to make a threshold: Is he acceptable?  Can you live with this guy? Is he a non-lunatic? He did. He may have been  demonized in the past as a radical ideologue. He was acceptable – he wins. I  think Obama is going to be not quite as weak as [Jimmy] Carter, but relatively  weak – high unemployment. And that’s going to be the threshold question for any  Republican: Is he electable? Does he meet a threshold that the  independents and disaffected Democrats would accept? Thus far, I think Mitt  Romney is doing that.”
Read more:  http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/24/krauthammer-declares-romney-most-conservative-candidate-who-can-win-thus-far/#ixzz1YtUNMNJT