Mark Sanford is my top choice to be the nominee is 2012.
Mine too. Palin (perhaps through no fault of her own) is probably too divisive to lead the party to victory on a national level, while Sanford is at least as conservative and offers exactly what we need right now: obvious competence and fiscal credibility that is second-to-none. And there’s no question he’s socially conservative, but his manner makes him unlikely to turn off socially moderate Republicans and swing voters the way Palin and Bush do.
Sanford is also my current favorite for 2012.