A reader writes in:
It’s getting exciting out here. You and I may be the only two people who haven’t acknowledged interest yet. Rudy is weighing another run. Yeah! If he gets two delegates, he’ll have done 100% better than 2008, right?
(Actually, Rudy Giuliani finished 2008 with no delegates, so if he wins two delegates, he will have performed infinitely better.)
Now comes word [former governor] Buddy Roemer of Louisiana is considering a run. That comes from Jonathan Martin and all I can say is awesome. It’s going to be fun watching the debates from Iowa when Alan Keyes pops up on stage with Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. Any word if Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson have set a timeline? How about Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo? There could be 15 guys and gals in the first debate and ranging from a caribou hunter to a pot smoker! Pass the popcorn! In all seriousness, the potential field is getting comical.
The good news is that not all of these folks are genuine candidates; some Republican figures haven’t had any attention lately, and hinting they’re running for president is a quick, easy way to generate profiles and speaking invitations and op-ed acceptances. They may suddenly attract folks who tell them they should run for president, and they may actually start to believe it. Who knows? Maybe one of these folks will come out of past obscurity to roar ahead. We’ve seen quite a few “overnight sensations” in recent years — Barack Obama, Scott Brown, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Ron Johnson, Sharron Angle — you could even argue Christine O’Donnell. (Obviously, most of those folks were working hard for years, outside of the spotlight.)
But . . . the presidency is a much tougher stage, with a much higher bar to clear.