The Republican Nomination For President: The Race For The Race For The White House

Thune by the way was elected to the Senate in 2004 and was reelected in 2010 with no opposition. I suspect he decided to pass on 2012 with an eye on 2016.

Thune Not Running

Tell me again why none of the first tier candidates are willing to run in 2012?

*** The six who are running: After spending the last several weeks dipping their toes in the Iowa and New Hampshire waters, after selling their books, after speaking to reporters, and after assembling early campaign teams, we have a pretty good idea of the early 2012 GOP field. This list isn’t exhaustive, but these six Republicans look to be sure bets to get in the race: Haley Barbour (who will announce his decision by April or May), Jon Huntsman (who seems likely to get in after his ambassadorship ends on April 30), Newt Gingrich (who will make up his mind by the end of this month), Tim Pawlenty (who will decide in “the next few weeks”), Mitt Romney (whose team has been laying low), and Rick Santorum (who will decide in the next three months).

*** The six who are sitting on the sidelines: So that’s likely your field by the spring/early summer, along with the Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, and maybe even Donald Trump (gulp). But here’s a story that will likely compete with the GOP six-pack: the Republicans on the sidelines who could jump in the race. That includes the folks who haven’t made up their minds (but who also haven’t really prepped for a run and so are being treated by donors as NON-candidates): Michele Bachmann, Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee, and Sarah Palin. And then there are those who maintain they’re not running (but who will remain part of the discussion anyway): Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. Don’t underestimate the impact that the focus and chatter on the Sideline Six -- up until New Hampshire’s filing date -- could have on the GOP race. Even today, the New York Times’ David Brooks devotes his column urging Daniels to get in the race. Expect to see more of this… Source

WASHINGTON — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich intends to take a formal step toward entering the 2012 presidential race within the next two weeks, Republican officials said Sunday, after he spent months traveling to important primary and caucus states.

These officials declined to say precisely what type of announcement the 67-year-old former Georgia lawmaker would make, but added they expect him to make clear his determination to run.

If so, he would be the first prominent Republican to do so in a slow-to-develop field of potential challengers to President Barack Obama. More

There are a couple of fistfuls of potential Repub candidates. But many of them realize it will be tough financially to participate in the race for the nomination, much less in a general election vs Obama. Many of them might decide to wait until 2016.

Newt is 67 years old, I believe. 2012 will be his last chance to grab the gold ring.

I think we are on the same page, georgeob. Newt is 67 years old, I believe. 2012 will be his last chance to grab the gold ring. If Obama stumbles, if the economy tanks, perhaps he may have a chance. I don't recall how old Romney is.
I am inclined to believe that there are a bunch of younger Repubs who are quite content to lay low until 2016, bolstering their resumes as Governors or Congressmen and hoping the balance of power in the Senate will turn their way in 2012.

Finn to Johnboy: "You pompous little git."

Huckabee claims Obama grew up in Kenya

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Sarah Blackwill
Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor considering another run for president in 2012, inaccurately claimed on a conservative talk-radio show that President Obama grew up in Kenya.

"[O]ne thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, very different than the average American," Huckabee told host Steve Malzberg, the Washington Post reported. (Huckabee is on a multi-state book tour that is taking him to key presidential nominating states.)

Huckabee's claim that President Obama grew up in Kenya is false. President Obama was born in Hawaii and spent part of his youth in Indonesia, not Kenya. The president's biological father was Kenyan, and Obama barely knew him.

Huckabee has said he believes President Obama was born in the United States -- unlike the so-called "Birthers," who believe falsely that the president was born elsewhere. Huckabee reiterated his standard reasoning for that again today.

"The only reason I'm not as confident that there's something about the birth certificate ... is because I know the Clintons well, and believe me they had lots of investigators out on him," Huckabee said, "and I'm convinced if there was anything they could have found on that they would have found it, and I promise they would have used it."

But Huckabee didn't shoot down other conspiracy theories like the president not having health or college records, floated by Malzberg. Here's a partial transcript:

MALZBERG: Don't you think it's fair also to ask him - I know your stance on this - how come we don't have a health record? We don't have a college record? We don't have a birth certif- why Mr. Obama did you spend millions of dollars in courts all over this country to defend against having to present a birth certificate. It's one thing to say, "You've seen it, goodbye. But why go to court and send lawyers to defend against having to show it?" Don't you think we deserve to know more about this man?

HUCKABEE: I would love to know more - what I know is troubling enough. And one thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya - his view of the Brits, for example, very different from the average American. When he gave the bust back to [of Winston Churchill] -- of Winston Churchill, yeah. A great insult to the British, but if you think about it - his perspective growing up in Kenya with a Kenyan father and granfather, their view of the Mau Mau Revolution is very different from ours, because he probably grew up hearing that the British were a bunch of imperialists who persecuted his grandfather.

MALZBERG: He despises the West, he despises the Brits, and I think he could take it all out on Israel, and that's why he despises Israel. He's not too thrilled with our history either... Would you say to him or at least ask him in a debate: Why did you go to court and spend millions of dollars on lawyers to prevent from having to show your birth certificate? If you have one, and it's there, why not show it?

HUCKABEE: The only reason I'm not as confident that there's something about the birth certificate, Steve, is because I know the Clintons well, and believe me they had lots of investigators out on him, and I'm convinced if there was anything they could have found on that they would have found it and I promised they would have used it. Source