4 Dark-Horse Republicans in 2012: Pawlenty, Sanford, Huntsman, and Cantor

When talking about "dark horse" Republican presidential candidates for 2012, Rob Portman should be on the list. He is very strong on fiscal policy and has solid experience---terms in Congress and two Cabinet-level positions. He resigned from the Bush (43) administration on principle---he did not agree with Bush's excessive spending policies. He is conservative on other issues and has the potential to unite the Republican party.

Bill Semmer of IL 6:48AM May 17, 2009

gingrich will be 69 in 2012 and is an admittedly terrible retail politician. romney lost iowa last time and with palin and huck in will lose iowa again. sanford and pawlenty are bland and boring, and control very weak political networks. cantor is on his way to being the next GOP speaker of the house, no reason to drop that in favor of an unlikely presidential run. jindal is running for reelection in 2011 making a prez run improbable if not impossible. that leaves only 5 possible candidates:

sen. john thune

gov. jeb bush

gov. jon huntsman

gov. sarah palin

gov. mike huckabee

max of NJ 3:44PM May 15, 2009

Some great comments for Mike Huckabee. It is very hard to disgree with all that Stell had to say. I wish most in CA would see the light! I have Gingrich in mine to get something past through congress. I will support one of the two and if I am lucky both on the same ticket!

Francis of VA 8:28AM May 15, 2009

First of all, it always annoys me when someone ridicules a political figure by screwing around with their name to make a point ("Mitt Witt," et all). It's vain, immature, and desperate in an attempt to be noticed.

Consider all of the gentleman listed here. Who understands and identifies with the GOP the most, and who possesses the most experience in running a government? My objective assessment is Mike Huckabee. Not only does he seem to be the most well-rounded in his approach to the myriad of societal problems before us domestically, he has also done a pretty good job of maintaining relationships abroad that will serve our country well, including that with Israel.

I notice there aren't too many politicians who have the ability to attract and retain votes from both sides of the geopolitical spectrum as Mike Huckabee in that, as a twice re-elected governor following his appointment, he secured not only significant Democrat votes in his State of Arkansas, but the impoverished black vote as well. In addition to what seems to be a reputation for action on behalf of people from all walks of life is his directness and authenticity. Not only will Mr. Huckabee agree or disagree in his debate, but it seems that he will actually explain why and outline a better solution.

In this jaded climate of unprecedented government spending, what I also recall is how Mr. Huckabee ran a campaign on a shoestring that was far and away the opposite of his Republican and Democrat counterparts. Not only was it fiscally prudent, he secured an impressive amount of the percentage of GOP votes in the Primary. There's something about a person who can do little with much that supports the assertion that he can be trusted with more.

Add to that his compassionate Conservative stance, drive to hold the U.S. government fiscally accountable by revamping the tax code, support of American small business, protection of our borders, legal immigration, a preventative approach to health care, support of the arts in public schools, re-establishing the U.S. in healthy foreign relations, and his ability to well articulate specific plans of actions on all of his policies, I think the nation see a formidable opponent for President Obama in 2012.

I say Huckabee would be the one to watch.

Stell Martin of CA 5:00AM May 15, 2009