Jindal on 2012 Run: No Thanks

No need if GOP 'gets back' to conservative base, but she'll see

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin might just consider running for president in 2012 on a third-party ticket if the GOP doesn’t get its conservative bona fides back in order. Of course, “if the Republican party gets back to that base, I think our party is going to be stronger and there's not going to be a need for a third party,” she told conservative talk show host Lars Larson. “But I'll play that by ear in these coming months, coming years." More»

Republicans split on whether quitting mid-term is bold or boneheaded

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin's surprise resignation has left Republicans as divided as ever over the woman from Wasilla, Politico reports. Critics within the party charge that leaving the governorship mid-term—and announcing the decision via an odd, rambling press conference—has destroyed her chances for 2012. "There is just no good way to say quitting has made her more qualified to run for higher office,” says one GOP pollster. More»

(NEWSER) - Tim Pawlenty will not seek a third term as Minnesota governor, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Pawlenty is seen as a probable Republican candidate for 2012, but he was mum on the subject. “I don’t have any plans beyond serving out my term,” he said today. “I’m not ruling anything in or out.” He said he was leaving office to open up the field to others. More»

(NEWSER) - When Bobby Jindal gives his response to the president's speech tonight, Ben Smith of Politico notes that he will sound a little like Bill Clinton: In prepared excerpts, Jindal concludes that Barack Obama is being too pessimistic. “A few weeks ago, the president warned that our nation is facing a crisis that he said ‘we may not be able to reverse.’ Our troubles are real, to be sure. But don’t let anyone tell you that we cannot recover—or that America’s best days are behind her.” More»

Huckabee, Jindal among possible GOP candidates hitting trail in Iowa, elsewhere

(NEWSER) - Likely candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination are playing it cool, but their feet tell a different story, Jonathan Martin writes for Politico. Mike Huckabee, for example, says 2012 is “way too far away” to think about, but his book tour has lots of stops in Iowa and South Carolina, aboard a campaign-style bus with his face on it. More»