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seemed to be the topic du jour on the local nightly news this evening. He's been keeping a slightly higher profile nationally but keeps claiming not to be announcing his intentions anytime soon. Rumor has it- according to the local news- he may announce this Thursday evening but he's trying to swat it down. A lot of people think he's the most credible GOPer to challenge President Obama in 2012. I'm honestly not sure whether or not he might actually run this year or not. He's being VERY coy about it. While he seems to be fairly *moderate* enough to pose a challenge in the GE, I'm not certain he'd be able to make it through the primary election unless the vote gets split across enough people. My money (if I actually had any to bet) would still be an Obama victory in 2012 no matter who runs on GOP ticket (unless things really go south) and I'm sure that political calculations for 2012 have shifted even more in Obama's favor since Obama nailed OBL.
My prediction on Mitch for Prez: probably will hold off on 2012 and continue to build his name recognition and profile for 2016 when (maybe) the GOP base is not quite so crazed and there won't be a strong incumbent to run against. :shrug: He's served eight years as Indiana governor and three years before that as Bush's budget director (which would not exactly be a selling point for most people IMHO). Plus, I get the impression that his wife is not crazy keen on him running for President right now. It might be tempting for him to take a break from politics and get out on some speaking tours and build up his profile for a few years in preparation for a future run.
Frankly, I don't get what all the hype about him is though- other than being a (fairly) sane Republican in a party leading itself to political oblivion (and trying to take the rest of us with them). Aside from his fairly moderate credentials on social issues (at least until this most recent legislative session) and fairly decent- though not earth shattering- tenure as Indiana Governor (aside from the stupendously stupid decision to privatize the welfare system), he doesn't have much charisma, he can seem sort of arrogant and sharp when challenged, and he doesn't really seem to have any ideas and/or solutions for any problems aside from advocating standard GOP bromides (i.e. cut spending ONLY on social programs and other domestic infrastructure, tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses, eliminate health care reform, blah, blah, blah). Where's the vision????? :shrug:
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