2012 Republican Presidential Candidates

Sarah Palin

Palin appears to be the frontrunner for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination based on early polling and her huge name recognition advantage. 

She is obviously unqualified to be President (she quit her job as Governor of Alaska only halfway through), she is ignorant, and she is unintelligent. These three factors would seem to make her an unthinkable choice.

And, in fact, they do make her an unthinkable choice to the general voting public. But to the Republicans that vote in primaries they almost seem like positives! The modern Republican Party are the "know nothings" of the 21st century. Palin's lack of knowledge and intelligence is seen as a positive by these people. It makes her more like them.

While it is quite frightening that such a person could be taken seriously as a candidate for President by one of the two major parties in the United States. It is comforting to know that her chances of winning a general election against President Obama seem extremely slim.

Mitt Romney

Romney is the "safe" establishment pick. If the Republican Party were chugging along as it usually does I think he would be the nominee, but right now Romney's general electorate appeal is seen as a negative by the type of people who vote in Republican primaries. Unless the atmosphere changes significantly between now and next year, I don't know if Romney will even bother running. 

Although what he may be banking on is that the the likes of Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee split the fringe vote and he's left standing. That could happen. And if it does I think he would be the best possible candidate for the Republicans against President Obama. 

Newt Gingrich

It's amazing to me that this guy is doing as well as he is in Republican polling. His extremely high negatives make him an easy target for Obama. People still have bad memories of his ridiculous behavior as Speaker of the House in the '90s. He shut down the government out of spite. 

I think the President would be very pleased to face Gingrich in a general election. Unless Obama's approval ratings were really in the dumps I think he would defeat Gingrich easily.

Mike Huckabee

Huckabee is probably the most likeable of these four frontrunners for the Republican nomination. But his poor record as a "fiscal conservative" (he isn't really much of one) puts him in a tough spot. 

If he were able to win the nomination, his far right wing positions on social issues would be a big problem for him. He is against the right of a woman to choose even in cases of rape & incest. In 1992 he actually said that people with AIDS should be quarantined. There's a whole bunch more stuff like that. The attack ads would write themselves.

I don't think any of these candidates are likely to win the nomination but some of them will probably run. 

Tim Pawlenty

Perhaps he is hoping to be seen as a "fresh face" as he is mostly unknown by the country. But I don't think he's a very electrifying candidate. His best hope is to gain some name recognition and run again in 2016.

Bobby Jindal

I doubt he bothers to run. He has no chance.

Rudy Giuliani

I can't see him running again after his pathetic 2008 campaign. 

Ron Paul

He'll be 77 on election day in 2012. I don't think he'll run again. If he does he would probably get more respect from the MSM than he did in 2008, but I don't see him as having a genuine shot at the nomination. 

Jeb Bush

More likely to wait until 2016. 

Chris Christie

Might run but he won't be a significant player if he does.