Virginia may actually be doing something right, here.

Out of the GOP Clown Car of 2012 Presidential contestants, only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul managed to get on to the VA GOP primary ballot.  I'm willing to view this as a feature of the strict ballot rules in VA, not a bug.

I've long (as in, since he announced) been of the opinion that Newt Gingrich, for one, was not a serious candidate just because the office of the Presidency doesn't offer him anything better than the long con he's been running since leaving the House throughout his political career. Sure, there might be some gossip that Gingrich left his first wife expressly because she wasn't young and pretty enough to be First Lady,  but considering that actually taking office, regardless of what Gingrich might have wanted in the past, would entail not lobbying, or gathering big ol' speaking fees for speeches, suggests that Leader of the Free World might be a step down from "Teacher of the Rules of Civilization, and sometimes Science Fiction Writer".  Did I mention that Gingrich lives in Virginia, the state where he is not on the ballot because....duh? Because that is important. He's not on the ballot in the state where he lives--when Mitt Romney and Ron Paul figured it out without living there. This is not Pearl Harbor, people. This is just piss-poor planning. Because he never looked ahead and thought he'd still be here? Dunno. But he won't be the GOP candidate, will he? (I dunno, will he?)

Perry has not been impressive at all since he entered the race. I think he may have wanted it, but it was still a vain and impulsive decision on his part.

As for the others who couldn't figure it out--well, it's either that, or they just aren't as popular as they thought they were. So there.

Leaving Romney and Paul. There's a choice for you, without the possibility of write-in.  The way I see it, eliminating protest votes and throw-away votes may make the exercize more meaningful. You are voting for someone who may actually be the nominee. No protest vote.  No sympathy vote.

They have a point; I don't think it will make the VA vote meaningless.  The shallow ballot means Virginians are more likely to be voting on who will actually be the nominee.