I have no connection with Pawlenty, and of course it’s early, but the candidate list won’t change much going forward. It takes a lot of money and an immense personal commitment. It would be surprising for a complete wild card to emerge.
The existing contenders are alarmingly weak, given the state of the country. My personal choice would be Palin or Rubio, but the only one without a fatal flaw is Pawlenty and he wants to run.
A final point: in my view, the country is finished unless republicans win in 2010 and 2012. There won’t be another chance if we lose either one. So it isn’t too early for people to begin thinking about 2012 as the critical campaign in a long war. Patton may have been your favorite general in 1943, but Eisenhauer was clearly a better choice as Supreme Commander.
We can’t gamble on a Patton.
