GOP 2012 Primary: Populists vs. Managers

GOP 2012: Populists vs. Managers
As the 2012 Republican pre sidential race begins to coalesce, the field is dividing between Populists and managers. The most prominent Populists are former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The leading manager is Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, although he could face competition from such current governors as Indiana’s Mitch Daniels, Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, and, conceivably, New Jersey’s Chris Christie. Onetime House Speaker...

Poll Watch: PPP (D) Ohio 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey
PPP (D) Ohio 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey Who would you like to see the Republicans nominate for President in 2012: Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney or John Thune? Sarah Palin 22% Mike Huckabee 16% Mitt Romney 8% Ron Paul 8% Newt Gingrich 7% Mitch Daniels 4% Tim Pawlenty 2% John Thune 0% Someone else/Undecided 33% In 2012 would you most like the Democratic Presidential nominee to be Barack Obama, someone more liberal than B...

Poll Watch: PPP (D) Wisconsin 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey
PPP (D) Wisconsin 2012 Democratic Presidential Survey Who would you like to see the Republicans nominate for President in 2012: Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney or John Thune? Sarah Palin 21% Mike Huckabee 15% Mitt Romney 9% Ron Paul 9% Newt Gingrich 5% Mitch Daniels 2% Tim Pawlenty 2% John Thune 1% Someone else/Undecided 36% In 2012 would you most like the Democratic Presidential nominee to be Barack Obama, someone more liberal t...

Poll Watch: PPP (D) 2012 Ohio GOP Primary
PPP (D) 2012 Ohio GOP Primary Sarah Palin 21% (20%) Mike Huckabee 19% (17%) Newt Gingrich 18% (19%) Mitt Romney 15% (14%) Ron Paul 6% Mitch Daniels 5% (3%) Tim Pawlenty 3% (6%) John Thune 2% (0%) Someone else/Undecided 11% (18%) Among Conservatives Sarah Palin 24% ( 21% ) Newt Gingrich 21% ( 21% ) Mike Huckabee 18% (19%) Mitt Romney 14% (13%) Mitch Daniels 4% (2%) Ron Paul 4% Tim Pawlenty 4% (6%)  John Thune 2% (0%) Someone else/Undecided 10% (15%) Among Moderates Mike Huckabee 23

Poll Watch: PPP (D) 2012 Wisconsin GOP Primary
PPP (D) 2012 Wisconsin GOP Primary Sarah Palin 21% (18%) Mike Huckabee 18% (15%) Mitt Romney 17% (12%) Newt Gingrich 13% (14%) Tim Pawlenty 10% (8%) Ron Paul 4% John Thune 3% (1%) Mitch Daniels 2% (2%) Someone else/Undecided 12% (28%) Among Conservatives Sarah Palin 23% (20%) Mike Huckabee 18% (14%) Mitt Romney 16% (12%) Newt Gingrich 14% (16%) Tim Pawlenty 9% (8%) Ron Paul 4% John Thune 3% (1%) Mitch Daniels 2% (2%) Someone else/Undecided 11% (26%) Among Moderates Mike Huckabee 20% (

GOP Pulse: Slow Walking to 2012
Thune dips his feet in New Hampshire: The Rapid City Journal notes that Sen. John Thune (R-SD) is giving a Radio Interview with New Hampshire Radio Station WKXL. "While Iowa is nearby South Dakota and shares many of the same issues, New Hampshire is another ballgame entirely, and it's hard to see why else Thune would be doing in an interview with a New Hampshire Radio Station other than to get himself in front of an important primary state." Gingrich talks up Haley before visit: In an interview...

Two new polls show Palin trailing badly in 2012 match up against Obama
Two new polls show Sarah Palin losing ground before she even begins a potential Presidential Campaign against President Obama in 2012.  A new poll from ABC News and The Washington Post has Sarah Palin trailing President Obama by 15 points (54%-39%) in a potential 2012 contest.  That poll could be dismissed as an outlier if not for a similar poll from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal which shows Palin trailing Obama by 22 points (55%-33%).  Both polls show other Republican cand...

The VERY Wide Open 2012 GOP Presidential Race
Despite the persistent myth that the Republican rank-and-file are all patiently waiting to be told by Great Big Grownups which leader to follow in 2012 (you know, a Great Big Grownup Candidate like Mitch Daniels or Haley Barbour or John Thune) there's remarkably little evidence that conservative Activists, the true rulers of the GOP, are converging behind any particular candidate. For a good indication of the landscape, check out the reader poll recently conducted at the highy influential rig...

Herman Cain: Im forming an exploratory committee for 2012
I know the basics of his bio — accomplished CEO, talk-radio host, Cancer survivor — but not much more beyond that. Even so, it got my attention a few days ago when he won Red State’s 2012 “tournament,” topping Mike Pence in the semifinal and Palin in the final. Is that because Cain’s a Red State favorite or is the Grassroots support for him out there broader than anyone realizes right now? Either way, the Daily Caller says to get ready. Former Godfathers Piz...

The Gingrich Who Stole Christmas
The calendar is collapsing. Only a week until Christmas! Only a month until the beginning of the Presidential Election! David Brooks and Gail Collins talk between columns. Yes, the race for the White House is practically under way. Already, there are at least seven Republican presidential primary debates on the schedule. The way this is going, the Republican presidential hopefuls will eventually be on television every single minute. Possibly they can be convinced to do something more entertaini...

National Review eyes John Bolton for 2012
link from the #TCOT Report | story from Politico No, it’s not just an attention-getting stunt. John Bolton is seriously considering running for president. Bolton, the fiery, archconservative former United Nations ambassador, sees an opening in the 2012 Republican field. And his case, while far-fetched, is not altogether implausible. “As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open,” Bolton told POLITICO. “I don’t think the party’s anywhe...

National Review eyes John Bolton for 2012
link from the #TCOT Report | story from Politico No, it’s not just an attention-getting stunt. John Bolton is seriously considering running for president. Bolton, the fiery, archconservative former United Nations ambassador, sees an opening in the 2012 Republican field. And his case, while far-fetched, is not altogether implausible. “As I survey the situation, I think the Republican field is wide open,” Bolton told POLITICO. “I don’t think the party’s anywhe...

Gone With the Myths
A series on America’s most perilous period, using contemporary accounts and historical assessments to follow the Civil War as it unfolded. ON Dec. 20, 1860, 169 men — politicians and people of property — met in the ballroom of St. Andrew’s Hall in Charleston, S.C. After hours of debate, they issued the 158-word “Ordinance of Secession,” which repealed the consent of South Carolina to the Constitution and declared the state to be an independent country. Four da...

Cornyn: No START 'Litmus Test' in 2012
The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or buy . . . Go Some ObamaCare cheerleaders (including the president) insist that Governor Romney's 2006 Massachusetts "reform" was the f...

Republican 'Reciprocity' on START
Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) expressed relief Saturday that two non-START-related issues – the DREAM Act and Repeal of ‘Don’t . . . Go The New York Times, Lap Dog of the GOP? Finally! 'A Klingon Christmas Carol' Chicago—Across the country this week, productions of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" are warming hearts. In this city, one version . . . Go The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism hits store shelves on January 10. You can pre-order from Amazon here or b...

Barbour, Daniels wait for spring
The timeline is getting a bit clearer, Alex Burns notices: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, two of the biggest question marks of the 2012 cycle, said yesterday that they’ll make up their minds about the Presidential Campaign by sometime this spring. And Daniels gave a newly specific, end-of-April deadline for making his decision, telling WANE-TV that it &ld...;

Daniels will decide on presidential bid before May
Washington (CNN) - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is setting a deadline for when he must decide whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Daniels, a favorite among Republican insiders who respect his fiscally conservative record, said Wednesday that he must figure out his plans by the end of April, when Indiana's legislative session is slated to wrap up. "I think the decision has to come at the end of this General Assembly session, if not before. No later than that," Daniels to...

Haley Barbour, Mitch Daniels Put Off Presidential Announcement Until Spring
ABC News’ Michael Falcone reports: Here are two more clues that the 2012 Presidential Campaign is going to get off to a late start: two potential GOP Candidates acknowledged this week that if they decide to run, they won’t jump in until the spring. “I think the decision has to come at the end of this General Assembly session, if not before. No later than that,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels told WANE-TV in Ft. Wayne on Wednesday. (The state’s General Assembly sessio

Instead of a Truce, Find Common Ground
Abortion is always a hot button issue in campaigns for national office. The 2008 presidential cycle was no exception as each Candidate was questioned extensively regarding their pro-life views and the history of their decision making on the issue. Mike Huckabee, however, was one of the few who actually engaged in a meaningful discussion about what it means to be Pro-Life. He never avoided the issue and would often begin to discuss it himself during interviews if he felt the issue was being neg...

FB Watch
Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake discusses Earmarks and his hopes for the creation of a subcommittee on investigations. Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington, D.C. schools, discusses the rationale behind judging teachers on performance and the new non-profit organization Students First. Neil Friedman, president of Mattel Brands, discusses 'Singamajigs' and other popular toys for this year. Indiana Gov. on Shrinking Government Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels discusses politics in his home stat...

An Avenue for Mike Pence?
Ron Brownstein has a very interesting article out today for National Journal about how the field of Candidates is shaping up for 2012. He posits that the field is shaping up to be between managers like Mitt Romney and Populists like Sarah Palin. I think that is, largely, a false dichotomy, but if you change what he means by “manager” I think he is on to something. I’d use a word like “establishment” or even “conventional” to describe the end of the fie...

Who will get away with the Omnibus snow job?
Times are most interesting in DC, while the North of the country is cold but dry, while DC is covered in snow. The snow is in the buildings of the legislative branch as much as it outside. You see we have the unbridled farce of Republicans who eagerly put Earmarks into the Omnibus bill to be voted on, saying they will vote against it. Or at least some of them are doing so. Others seem tone deaf and carrying on as if Nov. 2010 was just like any other election. There is a subtle sorting process go...

Poll: "D.C. Elites" Say Sarah Palin Unqualified to Be President
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (Credit: Getty Images) Well-to-do Washingtonians are far less likely than the general American public to believe Sarah Palin qualified to be president - and an overwhelming majority of them believe the former Alaska governor is actually a negative influence on U.S. politics as a whole, according to a Politico poll released Wednesday. The results of two separate surveys conducted Dec. 3-8, one of which sampled 1,000 people nationwide with a 3.1 margin of erro...

Gingrich headlining South Carolina GOP dinner
Washington (CNN) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is returning to South Carolina Thursday to headline the Spartanburg Republican Party's Bronze Elephant Dinner. Gingrich has appeared in the "First-in-the-South" presidential primary state repeatedly in the last year, most recently in October, when he hosted a crowded town hall in Greenville just before Election Day. The potential presidential contender gave an interview to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal ahead of Thursday's trip and spoke warm...

Iowa GOP strong arms presidential candidates into Ames Staw Poll
On Thursday, the Republican Party of Iowa announced that the all-important Ames Straw Poll will be held Aug. 13, 2011. The Straw Poll has traditionally been an early marker to gauge relative support for Republican Presidential Candidates in advance of the first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses. The state GOP also announced that they will co-host a debate with Fox News on Aug. 11, just two days before the Straw Poll. The Ames Straw Poll is one of the first events on the nomination calendar that can ma...