The State of the Presidential Race – July 24, 2011

A lot can change in three weeks... but not much actually has. Despite the fact that I have been neglecting my duties in blogging about the 2012 GOP primaries, the candidates are all pretty close to where I left them last time. Still, though, there have been a few interesting developments: a new candidate is moving closer to entering the race, voters supposedly wish that two more would do the same, Speaker Newt Gingrich shows that he really is incredibly unaware of how people view him, and Governor Tim Pawlenty is still being... well... Tim Pawlenty.

Rick Perry claims God wants him to run. No comment from God.

The Woman Who Would Not Be President

The recent spate of prospective presidential candidates dropping out of the Republican race and the lack of a true social conservative in the contest has led to rampant speculation of the return of everyone's favorite maverick: former governor Sarah Palin. Several other factors have led some to hope that she may be getting ready to run for the Republican nomination in 2012, but I wouldn't count her in just yet. Most of what we know about Palin points to the inescapable fact that she no longer wants to run for president.

(A fake but hilarious picture of Palin, from NewsPirates)

And the winner is...

This year's race for the Republican presidential nomination is one of the most wide-open contests in modern history: every frontrunner has fairly significant reasons why they likely won't win, and the whole contest is practically begging for a dark horse to come and steal the nomination. In the past few months, there has been a steady stream of candidates not running or encountering debilitating problems affecting their own chances at winning. So, where does the race stand? To find out, let's take a look at the candidates and where they stand. I'm only going to talk about candidates that I think have a legitimate chance of even making noise in the campaign; sorry if I skip over your favorite candidate, but if there are any incensed Buddy Roemer fans out there, feel free to call me an idiot in the comments section.