Maybe it’s an indication of how cynical I’ve become that I really haven’t been able to come up with anyone in this category.

Jim gave me a preview of his choice, and I can absolutely see where he’s coming from.

But as I look around, I don’t really see anyone who has stood up to deliver the tough message or taken responsibility for something gone wrong. I see a lot of opportunists: guys like Governor Romney, who simply cast aside years of themselves and their records to remake themselves into something new. And they get away with it, just as Romney has.

More and more, it all looks like a big game of pretend. “I’ll say what I need to, get the suckers to vote for me, and then do what I want.” That’s the prevailing wisdom amongst candidates these days. And it’s the reason that I haven’t been able to get behind any of the Republican candidates as yet.

So my selection for Most Honest Person, though it pains me greatly to do it: None of the above. And I’m hoping for a better pool of nominees in 2008.

Jim: My nomination is Fred Thompson, for his willingness to share unpleasant truths regarding entitlements. Oddly enough, this year hasn’t seen it turn into the third rail, or seen voters rebuking him because they buy into exhausted attacks that he wants to “destroy Social Security.” I think voters have largely ignored his entitlement reform plans. The other candidates haven’t really attacked him on it.

This praise is not to be construed as an endorsement. But it is a salute; I’ve wanted to see what happened if a candidate came out and addressed America’s huge and growing unfunded liabilities in Social Security, and coming generational warfare, in ruthlessly blunt talk. This year I got my answer: voters yawned. No good deed goes unpunished.

Cam: Most honest person of the year? Either my wife (for speaking the blunt truth about several of my faults) or James and Catherine, who are at the age where they can speak their minds without the ability to self-edit. Gotta love standing in line behind a rather girthy individual only to hear a tiny voice pop up with “Big bottom, daddy! Big bottom!”.