Keys to Palin's 2012 Run

Current Republican field riddled with weak spots

(NEWSER) - Republicans talk a good game about challenging President Obama in 2012, but the GOP would look scarier if it had even one legitimate challenger , says Dick Polman. "Obama's job-approval numbers are tepid these days—but he looks robust when matched against actual Republican challengers," warns the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist. "Not to mention the inevitable wounds and scars that any Republican will suffer during a primary season that promises to be downright Darwinian." More»

(NEWSER) - The 2012 presidential race is heating up—at least in a Gallup poll of Republican voters. CQ Politics looks at the results, which have former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney out front, with 26% saying he should top the GOP ticket. Sarah Palin snags 21%, Mike Huckabee gets 19%, and Newt Gingrich scores 14%. But the poll also reports favorability ratings, and there the picture is different: More»

Not one of the slate of hopefuls is electable, writes Chris Cillizza

(NEWSER) - The GOP's presidential 2012 field isn't pretty. "All—that's A-L-L—of the Republicans considering runs carry at least one major flaw," writes Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post . Mitt Romney signed a health care bill similar to President Obama’s. Mississippi governor Haley Barbour “virtually invented lobbying.” Newt Gingrich is on his third marriage. And Sarah Palin? She’s “done next to nothing” to expand beyond her base. More»

Ex-governors, ex-speaker in statistical dead heat

(NEWSER) - Believe it or not, Sarah Palin is not the preferred 2012 presidential nominee of most Tea Partiers. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich actually rated higher than the former Alaska governor among members of the fiscally conservative group in a recent CNN poll . Support for the three would-be candidates clustered within the poll's 7-point margin of error, meaning they are statistically tied. More»

Don't let the midterms or his ups and downs fool you

(NEWSER) - Much hay has been made over President Obama’s supposed vulnerability in 2012, Mark Halperin writes, but when you look at his probable challengers and his formidable political skills, his prospects seem positively rosy. Two legit Republican contenders exist at the moment: Mitt Romney “remains unexpectedly unfamiliar” (Halperin says a flight attendant mistook his picture on a book cover for John Edwards), and as for Tim Pawlenty—who’s that? More»