E.J. Dionne: Why Huckabee and Palin aren’t running (Our masters will pick a candidate)

The Washington Post ^ | April 22, 2011 | E.J. Dionne Jr.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Clearly, lots of people want to talk about 2012. Last I checked, there were nearly 800 comments on my column about next year’s presidential race, and by early afternoon today, there were more than 600 comments about my colleague Charles Krauthammer’s “Unified Field Theory of 2012” column.

I specifically want to reply to a reader who asked, fairly, why I didn’t mention Mike Huckabee or Sarah Palin as 2012 Republican contenders. The answer is that on this question, Charles and I agree: Neither of us thinks that Huckabee or Palin will run. Charles made this point directly; I did so by omission. (Charles and I usually disagree on matters of policy but have points of concord on analytical matters.)

Over the years, I have found Huckabee an agreeable soul, despite many disagreements with his views. In January 2007, a year before Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, I wrote that he was “the brightest star among Republican presidential dark horses” and declared him “the Republican to watch.” (Warning: Pundits are likely to remind you of their successful predictions and hope you forget their misfires.) He is doing relatively well in the polls for 2012. But I agree entirely with Charles: Huckabee seems thoroughly happy in his current life, and it’s hard to see his ruining what he has with a second presidential candidacy.

As for Palin, I have never believed she would run, and I still don’t. From the moment John McCain picked her as his running mate, I just could not see her as president and did not think a majority of Americans would ever see her as presidential.....

[2ndDivisionVet]

I live to see him proven wrong.

[Emperor Palpatine]

[newfreep]

EJ Dionne is one of the most (if not THE most) stupid liberal/progressive “jounalists” in the national media.

[Grunthor]

“As for Palin, I have never believed she would run, and I still don’t.”

Agreed. But if she does, she’s going to be formidable.

[newfreep]

psssst - She’s running.

[hinckley buzzard]

The WaPo slimer pretending to be the voice of sweet reason.

[Grunthor]

I doubt it but am hopeful.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

I live to, hopefully, see THE ENTIRE WORLDWIDE LEFT go down in flames, asap, and please!

[mad_as_he$$]

I think they have already chosen Romney.

[Josh Painter]

Poor EJ has been proven on a daily basis for years. Of all the liberal blatherati, he’s most wrong most often.

- JP

[mad_as_he$$]

All things being as they are right now 0 would beat Palin like she was a red haired step child.

[Josh Painter]

proven -> proven wrong

[EGPWS]

I think they have already chosen Romney.

If they are that stupid then the GOP deserves to lose.

[Cheerio]

I think they have already chosen Romney.

YUP. IMHO no Republican is gonna beat the magnificent messiah boy king - he will be reelected and is campaigning on "I need four more yeas to get us out of that mess the GOP left me". All the time never admitting that the RATS ran congress since 2006, nary a peep about it from the LSM either.

Without a strong backbone in the house it is over for the America I grew up in. As Levin says, "We are now living in a post-Consitutional era".

American voters are too stupid, and/or they want income redistribution. How about Boeing being told by this Admin they have no legal right to build a plan in SC - they must stay in Seattle/Everette.

[J40000]

“I think they have already chosen Romney.”

Yep. Which is why I believe we’ll wind up with ANOTHER 4 years of obama... This country is gone.

[Hardraade]

The only thing I associate with the name Dionne, sort of, is a mustard, rather lower on the totem pole than Poupon.

[FrankR]

I remember a lot of folks were counting on Fred Thompson in the last election to be the force for obama to reckon with, and he went totally flaccid before the campaign was over, a big disappointment to a lot of people after the build-up that was given him.

While I could care less about Huckabee, I hope Sarah does not fizzle at the last minute...if she does, get ready for another obama inauguration pah-tay.

[RnMomof7]

And they will if he is he candidate

[RnMomof7]

And they will if he is he candidate

[Colonel_Flagg]

If they are that stupid then the GOP deserves to lose.

Myth will generate a third party.