When Thompson dropped out of the race, a couple of fellow Fredheads here in California sent emails asking me to let them know when I finally decided how I would cast my ballot—as I recall, the number was just exactly that, two. With the fate of the nation thus hanging on my verdict, three points:

1. Paul Mirengoff’s explanation of why he decided to vote for Romney persuaded me to vote for McCain. Right up to the conclusion, I agreed with nearly every word Paul wrote. Like Paul, I see Romney as data-driven, McCain as man much more likely to make his decisions based on “instinct,” although the word I would use is not “instinct” but “principle.” (Nobody undergoes torture in a North Vietnamese campe rather than accept an offer of freedom, as McCain did, based on “instinct.”) But there are times—lots of times—when a president must make decisions under conditions of imperfect information, and other times—again, lots of times—when even heaps of data cannot in and of themselves lead a chief executive to the right conclusion.

In my own experience, the most vivid example of a decision on principle, not data, involved Reagan’s 1987 Berlin Wall address. The critical datum: that the entire foreign policy apparatus of the United States government objected to the line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Reagan overruled them, delivering it anyway. “The boys at State are going to kill me for this,” Reagan remarked, “but it’s the right thing to do.”

I can see John McCain making that decision. I can’t see Mitt Romney doing so.

2. About a year ago, I was inclined to support Romney—for a time, I even preferred him to Thompson. Then I saw this now famous video. I expected Romney’s campaign to help me get over it. It hasn’t. To the contrary, as Dean Barnett has written, Romney has “mounted a campaign that was, at its most basic level, insincere.” McCain may leave much to be desired, but, again, he practices politics by applying underlying principles to the questions of the day. Romney engages in product positioning.

3. I could be wrong. It could be that Mitt Romney has indeed undergone a genuine conversion on abortion, on health care, and on all the other issues on which he has changed his position. And if, as I now think possible, Romney should upset McCain here in California tomorrow, then Romney could very well remain in the race—and yet prevail. If so, I will cheerfully submit my judgment to that of primary voters, then cast my ballot for Romney in November, all the while reveling—positively reveling—in my reunion with Paul Mirengoff, Hugh Hewitt, Rush Limbaugh, Kathryn Lopez, Laura Ingraham, and all the other friends with whom I now have no choice but to differ.

Democracy, as a wise man once said, is the best form government for people who aren’t sure they’re right.