Mark McKinnon at The Daily Beast indulges in the wonk’s favorite weekend pastime – putting together lists.<\/p>\n
This one – the top ten GOP contenders.<\/p>\n
He’s got Mitt at the top of the list, followed by Palin and Pawlenty.\u00a0 Not a bad start.<\/p>\n
Moving down the list, though, you get the impression he’s trying to gin up some discussion (and apparently it worked, since I’m linking him…).<\/p>\n
4. John Thune<\/strong><\/p>\n
If he would run, John Thune could be the Bob McDonnell of the 2012 GOP field.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In a field as deep with center-right conservatives, John Thune is impressive – but in a field where “center-right” includes Romney, Pawlenty, I see Thune – a freshman Senator, let’s not forget – being far down the crowd.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
5. Mike Huckabee<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Put a fork in him. While I agree with McKinnon – the clemency decision on Clemmons, who got a life-plus-life sentence for crimes committed when he wasn’t even of legal age; statistically, it wasnt’ a bad bet, although that’s no comfort for the families of the four cops he allegedly killed.<\/p>\n
Much worse, in a just world?\u00a0 He’s no more fiscally conservative than George W. Bush was.<\/p>\n
6. Joe Scarborough<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Make it stop.<\/p>\n
Next – evidence that McKinnon spends too much time among wonks:<\/p>\n
7. Haley Barbour<\/strong><\/p>\n
Don\u2019t laugh. Haley\u2019s as wily a fox as anyone out there prowling the political countryside these days. He\u2019s smart, strategic and has been around the rodeo a very long time. Sure he\u2019s a caricature of the classic Southern politician: old, large, white, honey-lipped, and a former lobbyist to boot. But if voters are really tired of Obama, they\u2019ll be looking for the mirror opposite of the man occupying the Oval Office. And that would clearly be Haley.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Barbour is a highly-qualified candidate; he’s an opposite of Obama in more than just the cosmetics that seem to enthrall McKinnon.\u00a0 He’s a blazingly capable executive; he’s accomplished <\/em>things – his record as governor of Mississippi stands next to Romney’s and Pawlenty’s in their states.<\/p>\n
But is he the opposite of Obama?\u00a0 Not in the way voters, especially voters who’ve genuinely soured on Obama or <\/em>Republicans who want to right the ship, will care about.<\/p>\n
8. Newt Gingrich<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It will never happen.\u00a0 Please stop talking about it.<\/p>\n
9. Mitch Daniels<\/strong><\/p>\n
Daniels has been an extraordinarily successful and effective governor in Indiana, a state that has been recently more blue than red. A no-nonsense, tell-it-like-is conservative, Daniels cruised to re-election by 18 points last year when Obama was winning the state.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’d not thought about Daniels much – and I think his name recognition is, if anything, lower than Pawlenty’s (and Governor Pawlenty’s been working hard on raising his, in a way Daniels has not, at least at this point in the campaign, for what that’s worth, which isn’t much).<\/p>\n
But here, I think McKinnon’s onto something:<\/p>\n