Once a potential Presidential candidate has passed muster on National security, Iraq, the War on Terror, judges and the border -- issues which are most directly under the President's control -- we can examine his or her positions on issues of the second tier. These issues are certainly no less important than those of the first tier, but part of the responsibility for dealing with them devolves upon Congress. A Conservative candidate will need to work with Congress to advance his positions on second tier issues.

Tier 2 Issues: Taxes, entitlements, spending, health care and moral issues

By now, no one can fail to have noticed that the Bush tax cuts have energised the economy. Investments are up, inflation is down, unemployment is as low as it can reasonably be and the deficit was cut in half three years earlier than predicted. But the tax cuts will all have expired by 2010, effectively raising taxes and having the opposite effects on the economy. The candidate must understand that reducing taxes and decreasing government interference and control will spur the growth of small businesses, increase available jobs, allow people to spend more of their own money as they see fit, and actually increase government revenues. A potential President must be committed to making the Bush tax cuts permanent, and even lowering taxes further. (Anyone who mentions the Laffer Curve probably has the right idea.)

The flip side of taxes is spending. It's not cutting taxes that causes deficits and government debt; it's overspending. Big government entitlement programs make more people dependent on the government to take care of them, instead of encouraging them to provide for themselves. A Conservative candidate needs to take a hard look at reforming programs like Medicare and Social Security, which will eventually force taxes higher and ruin the economy. The old Chinese adage says, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." A Conservative candidate would rather see programs teaching people to fish than handing out "free" fish at taxpayer expense -- if the federal government must be involved at all. A helping hand is one thing, but a cradle-to-grave nanny state quite another. He must also be committed to cutting down on earmarks and other forms of "pork," which have been abused to the point of perversion.

One of the worst forms of entitlement touted by the Left is "free" government health care. A Conservative candidate has to realise that nearly any service run by the federal government will be unresponsive to the needs of the people, mired in bureaucratic rules, slow to perform, rife with corruption and waste, and staffed by petty time-servers whose main concern is covering their own rears. Washington bureaucrats should not make anyone else's health decisions. Only the free market can provide responsive, swift service to its customers. The main health care issue a prospective President needs to address is cost -- and that won't be solved by transferring it to the taxpayers.

Moral issues cover a wide range of fronts on which Conservatives see traditional values under attack. Abortion on demand, gay "marriage," federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, soft sentences for child predators, gun control, the removal of Christianity from public life... the list goes on and on. Most Conservatives see more than one of these issues as "deal breakers" for a Presidential candidate. All other things being more or less equal, this is what a vote comes down to for many Conservatives. The "values voters" came out in droves for President Bush in 2004, but abandoned the wayward Republican Congress in 2006. A Conservative candidate for President must be solidly on the side of the traditionalists, or he might as well not bother trying for the nomination. Any who have recently altered their views need to explain just what happened to cause the shift, and convince voters that they won't reverse themselves again. That will be a hard sell to jaded, wary Conservatives. With Congress currently controlled by the Left, the danger of electing a "Trojan horse" is just too great.

Tier 3 Issues: Personalities and personal problems

There is no such thing as a perfect candidate. That being said, any candidate whose moral values are seriously questionable would not make a good President, nor would one so wrapped up in his personal issues that it affects his attention to the job. Although such issues are of less concern than those of the first or second tier, they are not easily dismissed. Likability and a sense of humor are also essential to the Presidency, and those qualities will be rigorously tested during the coming long campaign. Veteran campaigners who have previously run for national office may have an edge. 

Finally, leadership qualities are always important to a President who wants to move his agenda through Congress, and especially so in a time of war. A candidate for President must exhibit confidence in and hope for the future, and dedication to the preservation of the values and qualities that have made this nation great.

See also: A Conservative Candidate, part 1