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                                           It is quite difficult to say who is or isn’t running for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2010. I suspect that Mitt Romney is. By all historic measures he is next in line and current levels of activity make it likely that he is running.  I also suspect that Mississippi’s Governor, Haley Barbour is seriously looking at the nomination. John Ensign of Nevada was running. That is until an extramarital affair of his could no longer be hidden and the secret attempts by his mommy and daddy to pay off his mistress all came to light and put an end to that ridiculous notion. 

Some sectors were already campaigning for South Carolina’s Governor Mark Sanford. With “Draft Sanford” web site’s and rampant prognostications, Sanford was riding a wave of public enthusiasm for a run at the Republican nomination. Then he disappeared from sight for more than 5 days, leaving everyone to wonder what happened to Governor Sanford and where in the world is Mark? The answer to that quickly brought down those “Draft Sanford for President” sites. He was in Argentina with his “soul mate”, a pretty young thing he met some years ago and fell  more in love with her than he was with his wife.

But still riding high as potential candidates in 2010 are Mitt Romney, who trailed McCain in the delegate count in 2008, and Sarah Palin, who McCain chose for Vice President.

Such speculation about Romney can be made out of the level and type of activity that he is wading into.

With his political action committee, Free and Strong America PAC, he is actively involved in critical races throughout the nation, including this years gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and gaining the favor of future elected officials who will be crucial supporters in the future.

He has also become a part of the National Council for a New America, a group of leaders that include Republicans such as former Florida Governor Jeb, Bush, Congressman Eric Cantor and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. This group intends to have a serious national discussion about the challenges facing America, small businesses and working families and they are taking the discussion on the road all across the nation.

Additionally, Romney is bringing in the mother’s milk of political campaigning…….money. His fundraising is constant, consistent and high.

So all are indications that in 2012, Romney will be running for the nomination that he was denied by the Republican establishment in 2008.

As for Sarah Palin, she confused pundits with her surprise resignation as Governor of Alaska and confounded the status quo. Opponents of Palin do not take the reasons she gave for resigning at face value. Instead they claim she is a quitter or that she can’t take the heat. What they neglect to realize is that Sarah Palin is not your average politician. They can’t seem to comprehend that Sarah Palin is genuine. She is a real person with personal beliefs and convictions that are not affected by political ambition, opinion polls or inside the beltway political games. They also fail to realize that Sarah Palin does not live for politics or allow  politics to change her life or principles. To the contrary she stands for her life changing politics.

As such, Sarah Palin made it clear that as a national target of liberal antics geared at attacking her, her agenda for Alaska was being hampered by frivolous legal challenges against every breathe she took, word she muttered and garment she wore. Therefore Sarah Palin decided to circumvent these tactics. Confident that her Lieutenant Governor was dedicated to the agenda that she has taken to this point, she took away the target that hampered its further expeditious advancement . Herself.

Now, no longer an available official government target for the hate-based liberal establishment, Sarah Palin is free and what the left does not realize is that freedom is much more powerful than any government office or liberal government program. With the power of freedom now in her hands, Sarah Palin just might be more of a threat to the left than she ever was and as she uses that freedom, she just might take them on by starting a run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Former Vice Presidents and Vice Presidential nominees don’t always have the best shot at being elected President or at getting their parties presidential nomination.

Al Gore got the nomination in 2000 but lost the election. Lieberman was his VP nominee but failed to get the presidential nomination in 2004.

John Edwards got the VP slot in 2004 but failed to get his parties presidential nomination in ’08.

Before them George H.W. Bush and Richard Nixon before him, where the only contemporary Vice President’s to eventually move on and win their parties nomination for President, in their own right, and then the presidency itself.

In 1984 Jimmy Carter’s vice president, Walter Mondale won the Democrat’s nomination in ‘84 but lost and Bush 41’s vice president, Dan Quayle, fell off the radar before the Iowa Caucuses took place during his brief attempt to win the Republican nomination in 2000.

So vice presidents and vice presidential nominees don’t necessarily have the inside track to their party’s nomination for President and as we look toward 2012, Sarah Palin will not be on the fast track for it either. If she seeks the nomination, she will still be the target of liberal hypocrisy and their fear driven propaganda and attacks and she will have to fight hard and truly earn the nomination amidst a field that will have a number of formidable choices. Only now the left will not be able to bog her down with frivolous and unwarranted government ethics charges and lawsuits.

Now that Palin has just officially resigned as Governor, she could easily enjoin that race and begin to lace up her running shoes for a long marathon to the White House.

It is hard to tell though.

Sarah could be so pissed at those who have tried to destroy her and her family and who have tried to impede progress in Alaska, that she is either fed up and leaving politics for a more civil path for the promotion of her beliefs or she may simply be reloading her ideological guns as she prepares to take aim at the liberal philosophy and its purveyors who have run amuck and now control government.

So far, there are no concrete indications that make it clear either way. At least there are no indications of the likes that we see with Mitt Romney.

But there is one little clue that could be telling.

The domain names sarahpalinforpresident.com and sarahpalin2012 have recently been claimed and registered.

Normally that could simply be the doing of some dreamy eyed, entrepreneurial, get rich quick minded person who figures on selling those domains to Sarah Palin for big bucks if she does make it official.

However a closer look reveals that these two domain names were registered by Jay Griffin of Anchorage Alaska. Where he is from is not half as important as the fact that he is a close confidant of Sarah Palin and that, along with Palin, he is a member of the Alaska Republican Party Central Committee.

Could Griffin be hoping to make some money off of his friend Sarah Palin if she does run for President? Or, is he and his new domain names just the start of a long campaign to evict Barack Obama from the White House and to take back America from the Pelosi/Reid liberal mentality that is currently infecting our government in flu-like fashion?

Odds are that an exploratory committee for that possibility are in the works.

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 When it was first announced that New York Governor David Paterson was appointing Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand to replace Secretary of State Hillary Roddam Clinton in the U.S. Senate, many of you may have been saying Kirsten who?

And with good reason.

She is little known to most living outside of the upstate New York region and has only served one full term in Congress after defeating incumbent Republican Congressman John Sweeney.

Gillibrand’s Congressional district is a fairly conservative oriented district, especially when it comes to fiscal issues and getting elected in her district is an intricate process that involves a great deal of bridge building. You see, the 20th Congressional district takes in parts of 10 different New York counties spanning the Adirondacks, Catskills and Hudson Valley.

Winning in her district takes a great deal of deal making. It involves a lot of ring kissing in the rough and tumble world of New York politics. To win in the 20th district you need to get your parties nomination and in this case that involves the county chairmen and county committees of not one or two, but ten different counties.

That’s a lot of favors to commit to.

So the fact that Gillibrand was able to win her party’s nomination for anything in the 20th district says volumes about her political savvy.

Which is probably one reason why Paterson picker Gillibrand to replace Hillary.

Paterson is going to need a great deal of political savvy to win election to governor in his own right.

Which leads us to another reason why Paterson may have appointed Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate. Kirsten Gillabrand’s selection may have been one of the first steps in Patersons reelection effort, an effort that he will need plenty of help in.

Gillibrand happens to be pretty conservative for a modern day Democrat, which is one reason why Paterson has been catching a lot of flack for picking her. One liberal columnist predicts that both Paterson and Gillibrand will be kicked out of office in the next election.

In the case of David Paterson, I find that funny. Paterson the son of well known Manhattan liberal State Senator, Basil Paterson, is the epitome of the liberal ideology who was born and raised in a liberal political family.

As a politician he is a pro-quota, pro-abortion, pro-spending, pro-tax, pro illegal immigrant, anti school voucher, liberal. He is as liberal as they come, yet because he selected Gillibrand, liberal activists want him out.

Well the joke is on them.

He’s theirs and he is there to stay. He is staying mainly due to the fact that he appointed Kirsten Gillibrand.

The appointment of Gillibrand was a deal.

It was a deal that would help take , of all things, pressure from conservatives off of Paterson. Not conservative thinking people but New York Conservative Party members.

You see New York’s Conservative party is not really a political party.

It is a patronageorganization. They endorse candidates based upon how many jobs they can get for the endorsement.

If the Democrat can offer more than the Republican than the Democrat gets the endorsement. New York Conservative party officials come across principled especially on the issue of abortion. But when it comes to jobs they abandon their abortion stance quicker then the time it takes for a terrorist on a suicide mission to blow themselves up.

That is why there are so many Democrats who run with the Conservative endorsement. Many of them are pro-choice Democrats and many of them have at least 3 or 4 Conservatives on their payroll.

Kirsten Gillibrand did not have the Conservative party endorsement last time around, but expect her to have it when she runs for re-election as a senator.

Although she is pro-abortion, she has a great deal of conservative positions including on the issue of the right to bear arms. On fiscal matters, as a congresswoman she is more conservative than many Republicans. She voted against the last few bailout programs proposed.

So there is room for cover for Conservative party members in their potential support for her but if that is the case, be sure to also look at her payroll and the conservative party members that will be on it.

As for Paterson, he most likely got a handshake and a promise from Conservative party officials who in turn for appointing Gillibrand to the senate, promise two things..

1. Not to cross endorse the Republican nominee for Governor and
2. To run only token opposition against Paterson on the Conservative party line.

That could help split the Republican vote and give Paterson some breathing room in his reelection effort and allows him to appeal to his now peeved liberal base.

Such a deal works well for Paterson. By appointing the congresswoman whose district garnered support from 10 different counties, Paterson probably ended up better than if he appointed Andrew Cuomo.

I mean after all, Andrew Cuomo was not going to get all that far against Paterson, the state’s first African- American Governor. Andrew Cuomo already opposed the states first black candidate for Governor, Carl McCall, who once won the nomination but lost the elecetion to Republican Governor George Pataki.

 For Andrew Cuomo to oppose a sitting Governor who happens to also be black, would be suicidal.

So Paterson is in a good position despite the bad state of affairs in New York and his bad decisions as governor.

The only real threat that could present itself is if Rudy Giuliani were to run. But if he was to run, the conservative split, set in motion by the Gillabrand appointment, has already helped to make it that much tougher for Rudy to beat Paterson and the same would hold true if he ran against Gillibrand for the U.S. Senate.

 Conservatives hate Rudy Giuliani. He refuses to play ball with them and so they refused to endorse any of the three times that he ran for Mayor of New York City and if he runs for Governor, they are more than likely to find themselves running against him again.

So the bottom line is that the Gillibrand appointment was not a stupid one.

It was a smart choice.

It was a choice that gained Paterson some respect from voters because of his bucking the establishment and not picking any heir apparent. It also did not anger moderate voters who would have held some animosity for Paterson for picking some leftwing radical. Stupid. I think not!

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at the Governor's Mansion...

...in Springfield, Illinois; One from Chicago, another from Tennessee, & a third from Kentucky. They all go with to examine the fence.

The Tennessee contractor takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil.

"Well", he says, "I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew and $100 profit for me."

The Kentucky contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, 'I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew and $100 profit for me.'

The Chicago contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to and whispers, '$2,700.'

The Governor is incredulous and whispers back, 'You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?'

The Chicago contractor whispers back, '$1000 for me, $1000 for you, and we hire that guy from Kentucky to fix the fence.'

'Done!' replies . And that my friends, is how it all works in Illinois politics!!!Submitted by Bill, Ardmore, Pa.

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It would seem that Jon Corzine’s recent State of the State address successfully brought New Jerseyans together.

Recently, State Senator Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) and Assembly members Mary Pat Angelini (R-Ocean) and Dave Rible (R-Wall) endorsed Chris Christie for the Republican nomination for Governor.

I normally find myself in agreement with those lawmakers, usually.

 However in this case I do not approve of their premature endorsement of a candidate who not only hasn't articulated his positions on the issues facing the state but is not even a declared candidate for the nomination.

New Jersey Republican leaders seem to be yearning for a savior. So much so that I believe they are willing to throw out the baby with the bath water.

In their intense desire to win an election they seem to be placing little importance on the principles that we need a Governor to bring to Trenton along with their victory.  On top of that thinking being wrong based upon its shallowness, it also ignores a basic truth.  It ignores the fact that our party should not be built around any one individual.  It should be built around our principles and the ideas that Republixcans bring to the table.  Rather than focus on one person to lead us to victory, Republican legislators should be providing Trenton with the ideas that could win the day for us.  Without those ideas, there is no need to win. 

So I suggest that Republican elected officials focus on that job.  Focus on bringing change through the legislative solutions they propose.  I want them to do their job and let the candidates running for governor do their job.

Once the candidates  have done so, or at the very, least begun to do so, then come out and endorse one of them.  Don't just endorse someone for political expediency.  Have some sincerity in purpose.  Endorse someone for their ideas, their thinking, the direction they propose to take us.   Not for their name. 

I want to know these things before I approve or reject his candidacy. I want to know where he stands on issues before we say...."here take our nomination, take all that we believe and do as you wish with it to become Governor".

With Republican elected officials simply endorsing Christie before he has stated a position on any issues or even become a candidate, they are not helping matters. They are simply saying, "we don't know what you stand for but we need you". That type of courtship does not help us build a strong ticket for Governor in November. In fact it could lead to trouble.

 Years ago when New York was my political arena, before becoming the Republican nominee in his second attempt to become Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani told me that losing against Dave Dinkins the first time around, taught him a lot.

You see, the first time he ran, Rudy expected Republicans allover the nation, to roll over and roll out the red carpet for his candidacy. At the time he felt that Republicans needed him more than he needed Republicans. That wasn't exactly the case.

While waiting for Republicans throughout the city to come and kiss Rudy's ring, another Republican courted them for their support. With money and conservative opinions, Ronald Lauder garnered enough support to wage a strong primary battle against Rudy. It was a battle that probably caused Rudy to lose the election by one percentage point

Instead of making his rounds and earning support from the party whose nomination he wanted, Rudy felt that it was incumbent upon them to come to him.

Not all of them did.

Many felt at home with the more conservative candidate who respected them enough to ask for their support, not expect their support.

Had Rudy maintained a little humility and earned the support of all Republicans, he may have avoided the bloody and expensive primary battle that he found himself in and by avoiding that battle he might have won the war and been elected mayor four years earlier than he was. In fact he probably would have been able to serve three terms instead of the two he was limited to by the term limits which voters adopted in the same election that finally saw Rudy win City Hall.

Four years after losing the 1989 mayoral race, Rudy admitted that the way he conducted himself, the first time, was inappropriate. He told me and a couple of county chairmen that he learned his lesson and that he knew he needed every Republican as much, if not more than they needed him.

With that lesson learned, Rudy went on to win the Republican nomination for Mayor with ease and ultimately became one of the greatest mayors New York has ever known.

Now, here we are in New Jersey and another famed prosecutor is on the verge of saving Republicans from defeat.

If Chris Christie believes like Rudy did in 1989, Christie could find himself in the same position as Rudy.

With some Republican elected officials simply endorsing Christie before he has stated a position on any issues or even become a candidate yet, they are not helping matters. They are actually saying, "we don't know what you stand for but we need you". That type of courtship does not help us build a strong ticket for Governor in November. It simply helps to create an arrogant  mentality in Christie that allows him to believe that we owe him the nomination and that the job of Governor is his merely because he may want it..

Truth is, we owe nothing to Chris Christie other than our thanks for his undeniably successful tenure as New Jersey's U.S. Attorney for the past seven years.

So stop wooing Chris Christie. Let Chris Christie start wooing us, the voters. Let Chris Christie join the other official candidates and earn our support.

The most recent example of Republican leaders hastily rushing to endorse someone, long before the primary election for a Republican nomination took place, was at the end of last year, when hundreds of Republicans from county chairmen, mayors, freeholders, councilmembers and state legislators rushed to endorse Rudy Giuliani for President.

We all know how successful that was.

So stop trying to part the sea for Chris Christie. We need to let him articulate his positions on the issues and demonstrate why he would be a better Governor than Richard Merkt, Steve Lonegan, Brian Levine or any other potential nominee.

A good start for Christie would be to stop stalling. The longer he waits to make a decision, the more suspect people become. They begin to wonder, does he want the job bad enough? Is there some closeted skeleton that is making him apprehensive about running?

Whatever the answer, Christie needs to make it official, one way or the other.

Until then, I suggest that everyone stop hoping that Chris Christie can walk on water. Stop making him believe that he is the best thing since sliced bread merely because he is Chris Christie. Help us win back New Jersey so that we can turn things around. Help strengthen our ticket in November by making Chris Christie put his very best foot forward and earn the nomination that he may want.

We are not helping ourselves by rolling out a red carpet for Chris Christie while waving a white flag of surrender for what ,we as Republicans, stand for.

We need to let Christie articulate his positions on the issues and demonstrate why he would be a better Governor than Richard Merkt, Steve Lonegan, Brian Levine or any other potential nominee. We need to make sure that Chris Christie represents the Republican ideology and approach to government that we stand for.

So before Republicans officials hand over our mantle to someone, let them prove themselves to be worthy of holding it. Let the candidates campaign for the nomination so that the right ideas may help win day rather than just some empty suit with a well known name.