This time four years ago, the following candidates had announced their candidacy for the presidency

[Drunken Irishman]

John Edwards
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Chris Dodd
Joe Biden
Mitt Romney
Mike Huckabee
John McCain
Rudy Giuliani

At the moment, zero major candidates have announced their plans to run for president. Some have hinted and certainly will run, but no official announcements yet.

Anyone else find that interesting? I think it's very telling at how Republicans perceive their chances in 2012. No one is really jumping at the chance to take on Pres. Obama and even those candidates who we know will run (Mitt Romney) are kind of waiting in the shadows on this one.

I think Republicans know they're in trouble. It won't stop the likes of Sarah Palin and Romney and Gingrich from running, but it will keep the field far smaller and less diverse politically than we've seen in the past.

[Exilednight]

1. It's politically advantageous to be the first one out of the starting gates

They only make or break issue there is right now is the economy. If you're the first Republican to jump out of the box, the first question you will be asked at this very moment is what they think about Wisconsin. Give the wrong answer and you just lost every union vote their is to have.

The second question will be what is their plan for the middle-east with all the current uprisings. I would guess that no major Republican candidate has put any real thought about how to separate themselves from the Bush Doctrine. The best solution that I have seen comes from Nicholas Kristof, but no Republican is going to embrace the ideas of a NY Times columnist.

The only real wedge they have left is immigration reform, but in these economic times no one cares about immigration.

On top of that, if you're the first one to announce you set the tone and allow everyone else to use you as a foil.

[treestar]

2. The Republicans really have a sad field this time

Even dumber and crazier than the 2007 bunch.

[dsc]

3. wide open races vs incumbent

big difference. This race will be all about Obama while the last one was all about Bush.