Massachusetts: Sarah Palin

It's time to reveal the new rankings of the 25 most likely 2012 Republican Presidential nominees -- updating from my rankings entering 2009, and at the end of February. And get excited, there's a new number one!

It's been an active couple of months for the Presidential wannabes, as they have shuffled to position themselves on the federal stimulus package, the federal budget, the Tax Day Tea Parties, and anything else that provides a platform for posturing.

Then there's the defection of Arlen Specter, who left because GOP primary voters wanted him gone. So... if you're sucking up to GOP primary voters, what's your response? (And if you're hoping to win the GOP Pres.

Daniel Kurtzman:
"Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was on 'Meet the Press' yesterday. And he said that Barack Obama is more analytical than President Bush. Well, there's a shock, huh? I think Tickle Me Elmo is more analytical than President Bush." --Jay Leno

"Actually, this past weekend, the Conservative Political Action Conference picked Mitt Romney over Sarah Palin in their straw poll to be the next presidential candidate. Yeah. Well, it's kind of interesting. I mean, one is just a pretty face, obsessed with makeup and hair. And the other, of course, is the governor of Alaska." --Jay Leno

"How many watched the Obama speech on Tuesday night? If you didn't see it, I'll give you the short version.

Mitt Romney is still the man, at least among the mostly young, mostly rabid conservatives at CPAC; he won the conference's straw poll for the next Republican Presidential nominee with 20 percent of the vote. That's three years in a row for Mitt.

As CPAC closes out to the dulcet tones of the right's dear leader, Rush Limbaugh, I have decided to update my ranking of the 25 most likely people to win the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, made two months ago. I'll get to that below.

Just to wrap up for now about CPAC, however... The message from what I've seen is: Republicans -- and particularly George W.

Thin pickings this week. From Daniel Kurtzman:

"Good news and bad news for Sarah Palin. The bad news is that the IRS says she owes thousands of dollars in back taxes. The good news is that she now qualifies to be in Obama's Cabinet." --Craig Ferguson

"And there are a lot of new taxes coming. California state legislators want to solve our state's giant deficit by taxing marijuana. Meanwhile, Oregon wants to increase a tax on beer, while New York wants to tax Internet porn. You know what this means? By the end of spring break, this whole thing could be paid for." --Jay Leno