Possible 2012 Republican Candidates

I think that Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee are gonna be in the thick of things. What do you all think?

I think that they will be in the thick of things, but only (maybe) Sarah Palin will make a move towards the candidacy. My opinion is that she will not. Too much tradition goes against the idea of a successful run on her part (VP on failed ticket, first-term incumbent with "opposition" Congress, etc.) and if anybody is going to return from the last field and do well I would say that, strategically, Romney is probably the Party's best bet. Having said that, as per usual, it will likely be somebody that we have heard relatively little from, while folks like Palin and Huckabee will be huge water-carriers with extant positions of exposure (Palin will tour, Huckabee has his Fox show.)

Having said all that; as distasteful as I find most of Huckabee's views, I still hold him as a politician with some remaining integrity. It will be interesting to see where he breaks from RNP conventional "wisdom" during the '12 "games."

Don't count out Jeb Bush.

Seriously. We obviously don't square on a lot of issues, but I'm 100% with you on this one. He is what all of the people--who have convinced themselves to be "scared" about Sarah Palin--should actually be scared of.

I fully expect Romney to be out there avenging his daddy again.

Chris Christie....though I wouldn't wish him on the rest of the country. He is, to this day, my BIGGEST political mistake.....that's including the knowledge that I actually voted for Jim McGreevey once.

Seriously. The tea party people in NJ love this guy, even after he's come out and distanced himself from them. There were several Republican candidates nationally that had him come speak at rallies. He's played serious hardball with the unions and the Dems in NJ. He's really pissed off the public service and teacher's unions, which may be a problem nationally.

Yep...with ALL of the problems in NJ.....Christie is constantly outside of the state and on the national stage. My parents were recently in Wyoming visiting family. When some locals found out my parents were from NJ...they lit up. "Oh, we just LOVE your governor...he's doing such great things."

The fact that he swears he will not run for the White House is meaningless. I'm sure you'll remember when he was US Attorney for NJ.....and swearing that he didn't want to be Governor.

I keep hearing that Pawlenty will try for a national run. Sounds entirely plausible to me - he's been a very model Republican from what I've seen. Which is to say, he's been a powergrubbing anti-tax anti-social-spending disaster in charge of Minnesota and I shudder to think of him in the Oval Office.

"I think your governor & my governor oughtta get together & go bowling"

There will not be a single viable Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential election.

We're not talking about viable candidates. We're discussing the asswipes that are going to think they are viable candidates.

I'm surprised nobody has brought up New Gingrich, who is going to use his indubitably unsuccessful campaign to raise money for himself.

Romney can't make it past the primary because of the Tea Party and the fact that he basically passed Obamacare in Massachusetts. There's just no way, I don't think. And Palin is just a trainwreck. She has her cult, but not much appeal outside of that.

I'm most scared of Huckabee. He's very likable, he's conservative as hell and he seems reasonable. Part of what's going to motivate liberals is a fear of the alternative, and Huckabee seems like nice gentle father you never had. But he holds absolutely insane opinions and doesn't believe in evolution. He's just as crazy.

Romney, Gingrich, Palin, Huckabee are going to be the biggest names.

I don't expect Romney, Ginrich, or Palin to make it through the primary.

Come now, we shouldn't discount Santorum as a likely TP candidate among the list of assholes either...








No, seriously. Santorum positioning himself as 2012 tea party candidate

Yep, Cap'n frothy fecal lube is laying (sorry) the groundwork for a run. He's a real wacko, but Pennsyltucky loved him for a while there.

Romney, Gingrich, Palin, and Huckabee will be the major contenders, I think. I think Huck's going to be the one to ultimately pull through, which is actually a bit scary because while he's a bit shaky with the Tea Partiers over some of his more liberal votes as Governor, he's the one person with the charisma to take on Obama if the economy is still soft. Mittens isn't going to make it out of the primary, Newt isn't actually going to run, and Palin doesn't have the fanbase to outright win any state that isn't in the deep South.

It's important to realize, though, that fundamentals are what's going to make the biggest difference in '12. If the economy is coming back, then whoever goes in will get clawed apart by Team Obama; at that point, what will be at issue is whether they could lose respectably (Huckabee) or whether it would be a bloodbath (Palin). If it's still soft, then and only then does the primary winner have a chance.

You can have Rick Perry; we're not using him right now.

As some of you have already said, I think that Huckabee is going to be the strongest contender. Do I dare say that Palin would be a good candidate for vice president?

She couldn't take the heat the first time around, and I doubt she's become less brittle over time.

She's not a good candidate for anything, other than perhaps being featured on another banal television program.

I watched her interview on Hannity earlier this week, and she claims to have a thicker skin now. I don't know. That remains to be seen.

I think that she has charisma to burn. Her coming out party in the center stage of politics with McCain wasn't an ideal situation at all. She might have a second chance now.

Oh please. In that same interview she swore off ever doing another interview with Katie Couric. If she's afraid of such hard-hitting, gotcha questions as "what newspapers do you read" I highly doubt she has "thicker skin now."

Charisma ≠ qualifications for candidacy, again, for anything other than a role on another banal television program.