Race for the White House 2012

Much of the national news this past week continued to settle on the uprising in Egypt, and the Brett Favre like back and forth over the eventual resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. While the events in the country will continue to be an important story in the months ahead, we should probably expect to see less daily coverage.

Stateside, the most prominent political event related to the 2012 Presidential election was this weekend's annual CPAC conference in Washington D.C. Numerous GOP hopefuls made appearances, including a surprise one by celebrity businessman Donald Trump. Absent from the confab were two of the more prominent potential candidates in Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, although the latter did seem to have a pretty impressive look alike wandering the halls and likely fooling some people, at least temporarily.

The Straw Poll results which were announced today included the expected first place finish of libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, who bought tickets for many young supporters and who captured 30 percent of the vote. Coming in second overall, (and first among actual conservatives) was my preferred pick, Mitt Romney, who won 23% of the vote. No other candidate was able to receive more than six percent of the vote, and it is worth noting that Romney received as much support as all his likely serious competitors for the nomination combined. The former Massachusetts Governor gave a well-praised speech to the meeting on Friday morning, after being introduced by his wife Ann. She has made it clear that while her husband is publicly undecided, she wants him to run and serve as President of the United States.

Bottom line: he is running and this past weekend at CPAC has only helped cement his statue as the GOP frontrunner at this still early stage, roughly one year away from Iowa and New Hampshire.