Free Republic

Take Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee out of the 2012 presidential mix, says Al Cardenas, new chair of the American Conservative Union: If they were serious about running, "they'd probably be here." Interviewed at the end of the second busy day of his organization's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Cardenas dismissed the chances of the two high-profile no-shows. "Both Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin would be formidable contenders, but are unlikely to be nominees," he told On Calll. "But my sense I they're not serious about running because I would think they'd probably be here if they were."