Right Now Archive: 2012 Election

The Christie for vice president boomlet: It starts now

I bring this up because last week I pointed to a Quinnipiac poll which showed New Jersey more or less split on Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) and split on whether he was a "bully" or a fighter for their interests. They opposed his spending cuts but approved of his pitched battles against the state's entrenched unions. All of this stood out because, outside of New Jersey, Christie is becoming a beloved conservative star. Talk to a plugged-in conservative activist and he'll rattle off the list of accomplishments -- changing the balance of the state Supreme Court, massive spending reductions, bringing Democrats on board with a salary cap for public employees, and -- oh yes -- endless YouTube videos of him dressing down his enemies.

By David Weigel  |  June 22, 2010; 10:13 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (12)
Categories:  2012 Election  
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Ralph Nader not ruling out 2012 presidential bid

That's not a "no." Green declined his interest in a third party bid as soon as Nader finished speaking, and Hightower isn't the kind of name you drop if you're actually looking at a political successor. Nader, who will turn 78 in 2012, began the Obama era by asking whether the first black president would become an "uncle tom for the corporations," and followed that up with a utopian novel (of disputable literary merit) about billionaires saving the world from conservatives. He is, in other words, a flawed vessel for whatever progressive anger against Democrats exists in 2012. But he's not ruling out a run. And at least one current tea party leader has experience in helping him get onto the ballot.

By David Weigel  |  June 21, 2010; 1:20 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (16)
Categories:  2012 Election  
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Mitch Daniels cancels the truce

"I would reinstate the Mexico City policy," Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels told me Wednesday, removing an uncertainty of his own creation. Promoting abortion with international family planning funds is one of "a thousand things we shouldn't be spending money on."

By David Weigel  |  June 18, 2010; 10:17 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  2012 Election  
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Huckabee fundraises against Gov. Mitch Daniels's 'social truce'

I think everyone's a winner here -- Daniels gets a (probably expected) moment of McCain-like straight talk endearing him to the less-than-socially-conservative press corps, while Huckabee gets to attack what is basically a non-existent threat.

By David Weigel  |  June 11, 2010; 1:15 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (8)
Categories:  2012 Election  
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Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels debuts

I'm struck with the sense that Daniels is a perfect tea party representative -- unconcerned with the details of foreign policy while broadly supportive of Republican ideas, bored by social issues, and very annoyed with the way Republicans tried to wedge Medicare cuts against the Democrats during the health care debate. Klein:

By David Weigel  |  June 8, 2010; 6:26 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  2012 Election  
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Mitch Daniels leaves a door open

That's a strategy Gingrich has more or less mastered -- some reporters still have the stubs of plane tickets they bought to cover the former speaker's 2007 "Solutions Day," where hints were dropped that he would run for president... and where, in front of many TV cameras, he announced that he wasn't running.

By David Weigel  |  June 7, 2010; 9:31 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
Categories:  2012 Election  
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