GOP Presidential Primary

Jon Huntsman’s possible presidential bid faces two kinds of doubters — about his ideology and about his electability. 

Read more...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) scored an endorsement Tuesday from a congressman in a key primary state.

Nevada Rep. Joe Heck's (R) spokesman told The Associated Press the first-term lawmaker would back Romney, who isn't yet formally in the race but is expected to run.

The support is especially significant because of Nevada's status as an early primary state. A number of possible Republican presidential contenders have courted the state's elected Republicans for support; Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) is meeting today with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.

Sandoval said Monday evening that he likes Romney and Barbour, as well as former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, but hasn't made any endorsements yet.

Heck's support is a boon for Romney in the early race for endorsements in the emerging Republican field for 2012.

As former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty gets a jump on his prospective 2012 opponents and works to present himself as the one candidate who can unite Republicans next year, he stands out from the early pack for another reason — so far, he's just about the only gaffe-less Republican of the group.  

Look at practically every other candidate in the field of rumored Republican hopefuls and at least one misstep from the past few months should come to mind. 

Read more...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Monday the only decision he's made about a potential 2012 presidential campaign is that he won't run against his father — Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). 

The elder Paul is seriously weighing another run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, while his son, Tea Party star Rand Paul, has teased the idea of his own campaign next year. 

During an appearance Monday in South Carolina, the first-term senator said part of the reason he's traveling to early primary states is because he wants the Tea Party "to have an influence over who the nominee is in 2012," according to the South Carolina Post and Courier. 

On his own aspirations, Paul said, "The only decision I've made is I won't run against my dad." 

In an interview with ABC News last month, Rand Paul said of a potential presidential campaign in 2012, "Come back and ask me in a few months."

A potential Republican presidential candidate said he "resents" Muslim attempts to "convert the rest of us" to their religion.

Herman Cain, a one-time Senate candidate and former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, is the most prominent African-American considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination. During an interview with Christianity Today, Cain said the country needs to overcome "the challenges of intentional divisiveness."

"People use the race card, they use the class warfare card, to divide us," he said. "Do people still discriminate in some small ways against certain people because of their color or their religion? Yes. But it is nowhere near where it was 235 years ago."

The Georgia Republican then went on to talk about the "role of Muslims in American society."

"The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent. One percent of the practicing religious believers in this country are Muslim," he said.

Cain continued: "And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them. Now, I know that there are some peaceful Muslims who don't go around preaching or practicing that. Well, unfortunately, we can't sit back and tolerate the radical ones simply because we know that there are some of them who don't believe in that aspect of the Muslim religion. So their role is to be allowed to practice their religion freely, just like we should be allowed to practice our religion freely, and not try to convert the rest of us."

Cain also said that "evangelicals can offset" the vote of traditionally Democratic groups.

"Evangelical Christians have the potential, if they vote in large numbers, to offset the union vote, to offset the gay vote, and to offset the vote of those that don't particularly have any religion at all," he said.

Earlier this year, the 65-year-old formed a presidential exploratory committee and said he's considering launching a bid for the GOP nod.

(h/t Political Insider)

Pawlenty said his presidential candidacy will be "unique" in its ability to "appeal across that whole spectrum" of conservatism.

Read more...

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) took the first step toward running for the Republican presidential nomination.

Read more...

Tim Pawlenty is set to confirm Monday that he is taking concrete steps toward running for the GOP 2012 presidential nomination. The former Minnesota governor's announcement will come via Facebook, but it isn't expected to reveal much about his policy agenda or leadership qualities.

The announcement is designed primarily to increase his social-media presence because viewers are required to "like" his profile page in order to gain access. Pawlenty currently has about 75,000 supporters on the site. By comparison, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has some 825,000.

The Ballot Box's Shane D'Aprile profiled Pawlenty in January and gained some insight into his candidacy.

Pawlenty, who released a blockbuster preview-style Web ad in January, said he wants to fashion himself as a genial statesman in the mold of the late Ronald Reagan.

"He’s my role model in that regard," Pawlenty told The Hill. "We shouldn’t confuse being nice with being weak."

He also showed off his knowledge of popular culture when answering a question about the state of the GOP field.

"I don't think anyone’s going to be able to keep up with [Sarah] Palin on the entertainment meter," Pawlenty said. "But as for the rest of them — they’re not exactly a bunch of Lady Gagas."

The Mississippi governor broke from traditional GOP stance on defense spending and suggested a reduction.

Read more...

Republicans would have been more successful in the 2008 presidential elections if she was at the top of the ticket, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin suggested Saturday.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi, Palin was asked why the GOP ticket did not defeat then-Sen. Barack Obama (D). Palin said Obama ran a strong campaign and effectively billed himself as a change candidate.

Pressed by India Today editor Aroon Purie that she also represented change, Palin replied, "I wasn't at the top of the ticket, remember?"
 
The 2008 vice presidential nominee said she was not claiming she should have been the nominee over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but her comments provide a glimpse of her potential appeal to voters should she choose to run for the nomination in 2012.

Palin reiterated she has not yet decided if she will run.

"I don't think that there needs to be a rush still to get out there as a declared candidate," she said.

When asked about the greatest lessons she learned from 2008, Palin did not mention the friction between McCain's camp and hers. Instead, she said the experience informed her public relations strategy.

"One thing I learned is that you cannot trust the mainstream media to accurately report on [your record and accomplishments]," she said. "You have to have the boldness, the courage to set the record straight yourself."

She even accused Republicans of not defending their records vigorously enough.

"Too often, Republicans have the fighting instinct of sheep sometimes," she said. When it comes to correcting the record, "I will put my foot down."

Rebutting a criticism often used against her, Palin said, "It's not victimization, I'm not playing the victim card."

Palin also touted her role as a key figure in the Tea Party movement, saying it helps enforce accountability amongst politicians on both sides of the aisle.

"It's going to grow, it's going to be more influential and it's going to hold our politicians accountable," she said.

Palin even compared the Tea Party movement to the pro-democratic uprisings that have sprouted up across the Middle East.

The Tea Party is "all about empowerment of everyday, independent patriots ... to change the balance of power," she said. "The changing balance of power throughout the world today is driven by empowerment of the individual ... That's what we are seeing throughout the world today."