The GOP candidate in 2012 is not yet on the national radar, much the way Obama was not at this point in 2006.
Romney is already halfway home.
One reason that 2008 was such a bad year for conservatives was because even then, Romney had sucked up so much air by letting it be known that he was running, and willing to self finance, which he did to the tune of 50 million dollars, that kept many conservative possibles out of the race because they saw the odds as too long.
2012 will be much worse, there will be some partial efforts by some of the conservative names that we throw out, to build name recognition and campaign structure for future use, but their campaigns will at best be about winning a slot on the Romney ticket.
Mitt Romney is not just a guy that shows up on TV and wins name recognition polls, Mitt is running and running hard, he is locking up every bit of the primaries that he can, in every important state that he can, when the day comes for the general public to look at the candidates, the other candidates will find out that they don’t have donors, that they don’t have top tier campaign help, that the decision makers and opinion makers have already been obligated to Mitt, they will find that they are already three years behind in a one year primary, and that they are looking for assets in a political store that has already been sucked clean of usable goods by Mitt Romney.
For more than two years Romney has worked relentlessly and strategically, and spent millions of dollars, campaigned nationally, built allegiances, laid his ground work and built his organizations in primary states, structured portions of the GOP with personnel of his choosing all in an effort to avoid the chance of anyone being able to undercut him, or even to gain their footing next year when the primary formally kicks off.
Romney is focused on one goal in his life, when 2011 starts, Romney will have three years of preparation in place to avoid another 2008.
Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are in a war for the soul of the Republican Party, one left, one right, Mitt Romney is a liberal in his soul, it is genetic. Sarah Palin is a conservative in her soul, it is genetic, this is the old battle between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, the old battle between the Western/Southern conservatives and North Eastern moderates.
Governor Palin and Governor Mitt Romney are already shaping the 2012 primary, and fighting for it’s structure and themes, and tone, and it’s goals, it will either be the old party or the new party emerging from the primary.
Newt and Rick Santorum have already made trips to Iowa, NH, and SC.
Haley Barbour, John Thune, T-Paw, and Mitch Daniels plan to raise their profiles after 2010.
Don’t be intellectually dishonest, LS. You cannot say, “Since I was right about healthcare...” since you made a thread titled “The Wheels Are Falling Off”. You thought it wouldn’t pass at the most recent time.
So spare us from this ‘great prophet’ garbage. You’re not half as smart as you think.