Salon's Steve Kornacki on The Incredible Shrinking GOP Presidential Race

[Keith Bee]

And then there were three.

With Sunday's news that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will not seek the Republican presidential nomination, the GOP is down to a trio of obviously plausible candidates for president -- for now, anyway.

It is now highly likely that Barack Obama’s 2012 opponent will be Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty (who is set to formally declare his candidacy today), or Jon Huntsman. It is also not inconceivable that an unexpected candidate -- Rick Perry or Chris Christie are the most logical prospects -- might yet swoop into the race and nab the nomination. But the prospects are remote, at best, that any of the other candidates actively pursuing the nomination -- Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, and Gary Johnson -- will emerge victorious.

(snipsnip)

There is also the "white knight" scenario, in which a new, exciting candidate rides to the GOP’s rescue. There were reports last week that Perry, who is in his third full term as Texas’ governor, might suddenly be interested in running. He could potentially be acceptable to elites. So could Christie, one of the strongest communicators in today’s GOP. Perry has shown in Texas that he can raise serious money, while Christie, who parlayed his role as a Bush 2000 "pioneer" fund-raiser into his career-making job as U.S. attorney, is well-connected in the cash rich tri-state area. As I wrote last week, it's entirely possible that both Perry and Christie would fall flat on their faces as candidates -- just like Fred Thompson in 2008 and Wesley Clark in 2004, the two most recent late entrants. But with Daniels’ departure bringing further definition to the GOP field, they are both worth watching in the weeks ahead. (Jeb Bush has also been the subject of white knight speculation, but he apparently ruled it out again on Sunday. Given the baggage of his family name, Bush has always been an extremely unlikely '12 candidate.)

http://www.salon.com/news/2012_elections/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/23/republicans_2012_president

What? No mention of Half-Gov Youbetcha??? 'cause I guaran-fucking-tee you she's running! I don't care what the conventional wisdom says: Her ego shall permit nothing less.

[Old and In the Way]

1. Palin has a good shot at the nomination, IMHO.

I don't see Romney making it...Romneycare will sink him. I think 'the base' will dictate a candidate who'll be unelectable in the GE...unless the GOP plays shenanigans at the convention. If that happens, then they'll have a base totally at war with the Party. Should be fun.

[AndiMer]

2. I think you're exactly right

Looking forward to the circus. :popcorn: