Will the Republican nominee for president please raise your hand? It's hard to tell who you are from here.
I guess Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is the front runner. But as goverrnor, he signed a state health care plan which somewhat resembles President Obama's. Many conservatives just flat hate that part of his record.
Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, has said he won't run. He's personable and carried Iowa last time, but he doesn't want to do it all again. He's a host on Fox News now and may feel that's an easier line of work.
There's former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia. He's against the House Republicans' plan to overhaul Medicare, but so are lots of people, of course. It would end the program as we know it and issue the elderly vouchers with which to buy health insurance on the private market. A lot of conservatives really like orthodoxy and might dislike his marital history: a long affair with wife-to-be #3 when he was still married to wife #2.
Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota? He got elected governor twice but has said Social Security and Medicare should be cut to balance the budget. Would voters like that?
Then you have the real long shots. Godfather's Pizza executive Herman Cain? Pizza at state dinners? Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.? But he was Obama's ambassador to China. One-time UN ambassador John Bolton? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachman, a Tea Party stalwart?
I have no idea who'll win, but it sure looks wide-open. Wanna run?
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