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Subscribe to RSSThe Wall Street Journal explores efforts by prospective presidential candidates to gather fundraising allies, or bundlers, who commit themselves to gathering money from wealthy donors on a candidate’s behalf.
The Boston Globe has a timeline comparing the dates of 2008 candidates’ announcement of an exploratory committee, and those of the 2012 candidates so far.
The Washington Post’s Cillizza notes all the 2012 Republican candidates have their flaws.
BARBOUR: The AP tracks some of Haley Barbour’s controversial remarks regarding Mississippi’s segregationist past. “Even after apologizing and backtracking on certain remarks, Barbour has trouble striking the right note: Just days ago, the governor told The Associated Press he remembers little about the racial violence pulsating through the state and the South during his youth.”
DEMINT: The State Column: “South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim DeMint is reportedly considering a run for president in 2012. The South Carolina Republican, who ruled out the possibility of a run, is said to be reconsidering his decision in light of Rep. Mike Pence’s official withdrawal from the race. Additionally, news that Mr. DeMint will travel to Iowa on March 26 to address a conservative forum organized by Rep. Steve King is adding fuel to the fire over the possibility of a DeMint presidential run.
HUCKABEE: The former Arkansas governor is on his 15th trip to Israel. The Birmingham Star writes that Huckabee will visit the Israeli Knesset to meet with the Immigration and Absorption Committee.
HUNTSMAN: “The White House expects Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China, to resign his post this spring to explore a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, top Democrats said,” Politico reports. “While Huntsman has no direct involvement in it, a group of operatives that could eventually comprise his strategy team has set up an entity called ‘Horizon PAC’ to serve as a placeholder for his political apparatus.”
THUNE: Politics Daily examines the qualities that may set John Thune apart from the rest of the pack of possible presidential candidates, and finds that they have more to do with who he isn’t than who he is: “Thune's generic conservative views, congressional career and intact marriage have kept him out of controversial territory.”
AP
Former Minnesota Gov. Republican Tim Pawlenty gets ready to sign copies of his book last week in New Hampshire. He is in Iowa today signing more books.
PAWLENTY: Pawlenty’s in Des Moines, Iowa, today signing his book. He was in Ohio Saturday and made two stops in Iowa on Sunday.
“If former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty decides, as expected, to run for president in 2012, he likely will talk about a unique national security qualification from 2007 in which he nudged an Indian company to drop its plans to invest in Iran,” RealClearPolitics’ McPike reports.
Tim Pawlenty “told a group of 400 conservative Ohio activists on Saturday that he accomplished a political feat that the Gipper never could,” Politico writes. “’Even Ronald Reagan couldn't win Minnesota,' Pawlenty said, referencing Reagan’s two landslide presidential victories. ‘That's how hard it is for a Republican to win in Minnesota.’” (However, T-Paw never won more than 47% in Minnesota, while Obama got 54% there in ’08.)
Former Mass. Gov. and Republican presidential hopefull Mitt Romney at an event in Dallas last November.
ROMNEY: “Former Gov. Mitt Romney shared lunch Friday with a small-but-enhanced group of Massachusetts Republicans as he sought to build hometown support -- and tamp down potential backyard opposition -- while he progresses toward a second White House campaign,” the Boston Globe writes.
President Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod “pointedly praised one of the leading contenders, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, in a way that spotlighted Romney's vulnerability within the GOP for signing a state health care law that parallels the new federal law in some ways. Romney ‘did some interesting things there on health care, you know,’ Axelrod said. ‘We got some good ideas from him.’”
Romney raised $1.6 million in 2010 through his five state-level political action committees, as well as $4.5 million through his national PAC, the Washington Post reports.
SANTORUM: “Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has brought on a veteran Des Moines consulting firm to serve as adviser to his political action committee,” the AP writes. He has signed up Concordia Group LLC, its president Nick Ryan and Jill Latham, a principal at the firm.
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The GOP do not understand what allies are. Everyone is considered an enemy.
Barbour is done, before he even really started.
Romney has no chance at all.
I was truly interested in reading about Pawlenty's steel deal- seems he has more courage and backbone than we have been led to believe.
John Thune may be a good candidate.
My money is still on Mitch Daniels. The most underreported story this cycle is the ad just released by a group of college kids at Yale who are trying to draft him- seems that most of them voted for the first time in 2008- for Obama.
Even more shades of Jimmy Carter.
I have one question- I seem to recall you guys putting every web ad ever made on this site- why have you not run that ad?
No Joe...
I pretty much agree with your assessments above. I think you can pretty much start by taking anyone who ran in 2008 out of the equation. Also, no way do Palin or Bachmann get there. I also have my doubts about Gov. Pawlenty. I think Mitch Daniels, Jon Huntsman, and John Thune would all make good candidates.
Frank: As soon as the media digs into what has happened in MN with Pawlenty as Gov. he will be done too. That, and watching him do debates or speeches. The man is so boring it is way more fun to watch paint dry.
A darkhorse will emerge and set the whole thing on fire. Mark my words.
But what the entire election hangs on is the creation of jobs for the people of this country. If people are back at work, then Obama gets re-elected, but also loses the senate. If people are still at home, then I think the whole government goes GOP, which is probably not a good thing either.
Democrats lose the senate? The teabaggers are already looking to hijack the nominations and nominate complete fruit loops! I see more Angle/O'Donnell debacles in their future!
If history is any indication, then it is Romney's turn to be nominated. He has been waiting on the side line and is the most likely to avoid any national scandals. The christian right will over look his religion, he will be seen as pro business, had a successful track record as a hedge fund manager and was a Governor of Massachusetts. He is the perfect candidate to run against a liberal establishment. The old guard republicans will need someone that can attract the independents and is not to far right.
I picked McCain and Obama to the the presidential candidates even before the primary begun and picked Obama to win over McCain. At that time I was posting as TEC.
The list of losers is growing.
If Santorum hired anyone other than a bunch of fee whores, they'll tell him there's no way in hell!!
Ah, and the civility continues:)
The consultants will rack up the billings and sweet talk Santorum. He got 41% in his last election, the lowest ever by an incumbent senator. Civility has nothing to do with it!
I think we got more than seven "dwarfs" and at least three "dwarfettes" already!