2012 Election: Twelve GOP Candidates Who Might Challenge Obama [ABC Handicaps The Dozen]

ABCNews ^ | January 25, 2010 | Teddy Davis

[Steelfish]

2012 Election: Twelve GOP Candidates Who Might Challenge Obama The Pros and Cons of a Dozen Republicans Who Might Run for President in the Next Election

By TEDDY DAVIS Jan. 25, 2010

The 2012 presidential election is years away, but there is already a growing crop of Republicans who are toying with the idea of seeking the GOP's presidential nomination. (AP Photo/Reuters)The first test will come April 8-11 when the Southern Republican Leadership Conference will hold a widely attended cattle call in New Orleans, which several potential GOP presidential candidates are expected to attend.

ABC News spoke with strategists, Republican Party officials and conservative leaders to narrow down the list of GOP candidates who seem the most committed to taking back the White House.

Here's a look at a dozen Republicans whose names have emerged as possible contenders to take on President Obama in 2012. In the end, not all of these Republicans will run. But as of today, they seem like the 12 best bets to get into the race.

One Republican not on the list? Scott Brown. The newly elected senator from Massachusetts is the conservative darling at the moment. Insiders say, however, that his support for abortion rights and the overlap between his political team and that of Mitt Romney will keep him out of the 2012 race.

[Red Badger]

Don’t let the MSM pick you nominee................

[Past Your Eyes]

Good grief! Are we going to let the ABC Newses of the country pick our candidate again? I hate to even admit that some of them are Republicans. Ron Paul???? GMAFB.

[GeronL]

I looked at the first page and decided I don’t care what ABC thinks.

[Past Your Eyes]

Wise choice. It didn’t get any better.

[rabscuttle385]

.

[GonzoGOP]

It will be a very hard year to get nominated as a RINO. Of course if it is a 12 way race then they can get in again the same way McCain did last time.

Palin hurt herself by helping McCain. It makes it that much harder to run as a "Real" Republican.

Finally the Liberal MSM is going to make sure that the primaries are ugly. Crossover voting will be very bad and you can expect them to try to drive a wedge between the RINOs and the Tea Partiers. In hopes of causing a third party run. Especially since there are unlikely to be any primaries on the Dem side.

[fatnotlazy]

Why did ABC talk only to conservative leaders, party officials and assorted pundits, rather than put these names out to ordinary citizens? The so-called experts don't know jack.

I do know who I wouldn't want to run — Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Way too conciliatory. Rick Santorum is not one of my favorite people, but he would be a good one if only to pizz off the liberal loons.

As for Scott Brown, way too early to look at him for a presidential bid now. Let's see his track record and if he's ok, look at him maybe in 2016.

[fieldmarshaldj]

I see DOA RINOs.

[ChrisInAR]

Don’t let the MSM pick you nominee................

Nor the NeoCon GOP establishment, either. Thune & Pence are good guys, but Rep. RON PAUL is my man!

[MrEdd]

Beat me to it.

[AuntB]

Well, by golly, I’m just thrilled the MSM has so early on decided for US just who our candidates should be. Guess we can all rest easy now, eh??

[fieldmarshaldj]

...Nor the PaleoCon kookburger fringe.

[pissant]

Hunter/DeMint. Accept no milquetoast substitutes.

[pburgh01]

The Republicans will manage to nominate some 74 year old dinosaur who “Can bring the Democrats and Republicans together” and has a history of “Standing up for the middle class”. Then we can torture ourselves again by hanging on every post that poofer on the HillBuzz blog scribbles about in reference to how the polls are wrong. The Pubbies have grown the primordial beginnings of a spine this year but the Liberals bullies will make them cower in 2012. Watch this year as ObamaCare dies and the Pubbies are now forced to work on socialism with the Democrats.

[a fool in paradise]

the 12

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Mitt Romney
Sarah Palin
Tim Pawlenty
John Thune
Haley Barbour
Mike Pence
Newt Gingrich
Mike Huckabee
Ron Paul
Gary Johnson
Rick Santorum
George Pataki

[a fool in paradise]

I’m surprised ABCDisney didn’t suggest we give McCain one more try. Yeaaaarrggghhh!

[Mengerian]

As much as I can proscribe to Ron Paul's fiscal and monetary policies, he's off the reservation when it comes to our national security and sovereignty. Here's a snippet from an interview wherein Paul says DEMOCRATS WOULD DO A BETTER JOB at investigatory oversight and lends further credence to the 9/11 “truthers.”

[From Michelle Malkin regarding Paul in which he stated Democrats would do a better job with investigatory oversight and further lending credence to the 9/11 truther movement and the “America had it coming” crowd:]

“CALLER: I want a complete, impartial, and totally independent investigation of the events of September 11, 2001 . I’m tired of this bogus garbage about terrorism. Ask Michael Meacher about how he feels about this bogus war on terrorism. Can you comment on that please?

HON. DR. RON PAUL: Well, that would be nice to have. Unfortunately, we don’t have that in place. It will be a little bit better now with the Democrats now in charge of oversight. But you know, for top level policy there’s not a whole lot of difference between the two policies so a real investigation isn’t going to happen. But I think we have to keep pushing for it. And like you and others, we see the investigations that have been done so far as more or less cover-up and no real explanation of what went on.”

[Mengerian]

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN). A 2012 darkhorse.