Newt Gingrich has “never been this serious,” as he told an Iowa crowd, about assessing his chances for a potential Presidential bid in 2012. Assuming he does, a Des Moines Register poll gives him a third place favorability showing in a match-up against current GOP heavyweights Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. Pundits aren’t discounting that Gingrich could pull an upset, but what’s giving some of them pause is the suspicion that he is trying to build up hype for a new book. Nevertheless, Newt’s announcement cements his place on the blogosphere’s roster of potential candidates making passive swipes at a 2012 bid. Lou Dobbs welcomes him to the club. Here’s what critics have to say:
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, being touted by some as a presidential prospect, says he’s not ready to start thinking about the 2012 race.
The Republican governor has had a higher national profile recently, not just because of the BP oil spill looming off Mississippi’s coast but also because of his fundraising for other Republican candidates across the country.
Newly published election spending figures show Sarah Palin ended the last quarter with a war chest of more than $1m, suggesting gathering momentum for a run at the White House in 2012.
Her political action committee, a body for raising and distributing election cash, raised $866,000 in the three months from April 1, the most since it was formed in January 2009. She spent about $742,000 over the quarter, most of it on building up her political profile and base support.
Gallup finds terrorism remains the top concern. But it has now been joined by — Hello, big Democratic spenders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid — the exploding enormity of the federal deficits. And here’s the midterm election year political problem for both of these Democrats: Republicans are viewed as better at handling both of those concerns.
In sum, this week’s events define what Mr. Pawlenty is: a classic, fiscally conservative Midwestern Republican governor. In a period of voter discontent, Republicans have two years to decide whether that’s the right stuff for the times.
Mitt Romney? He couldn’t make the voters like him last time … Sarah Palin? She’d lose 47 states … Mike Huckabee? Better as a talk-show host … Tim Pawlenty, Jim DeMint, Bobby Jindal, David Petraeus? Too blah, too extreme, too green, and stop dreaming …
This list represents a snapshot of a moment in time, with fluid odds and a constantly changing field. Keep in mind that if this list were compiled a year ago, Mark Sanford’s name would have been included – and possibly John Ensign as well. But that’s horseracing. Just ask the owners of Eskendereya, the consensus favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, who was pulled out of the race.
The race for the Republican presidential nomination is a ways off, but that isn’t stopping California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from predicting who will carry the party’s banner in November 2012.
30 years after his first landslide win, President Ronald Reagan remains an electrifying source of inspiration for many leading Republicans. Governor Mitt Romney often cited Reagan as a political hero, and a politician with the right idea.
The Southern Leadership Conference held a straw poll. Straw polls are a favorite activity at high profile gatherings of party activists, but hold relatively little meaning in the scheme of things. For instance, Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll, yet Ron Paul obviously isn’t going to be the Republican nominee.
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