Debate in New Hampshire: Palin conspicuous by her absence

A debate between candidates for the 2012 Republican nomination will occur in New Hampshire tonight and be televised on CNN at 8 PM (eastern).

Sarah Palin will not be there. Michele Bachmann, who is poised to steal Palin's conservative support, and Ron Paul, the clear heir to her libertarian support, will be there.

The Los Angeles Times' "It's Mitt Romney and the rest as candidates debate in New Hampshire" has some interesting polling news, and CBS News' "The Republican debate: 10 things to watch," where this post's photo was obtained, attempts to size-up the debate before it occurs. Vanity Fair's "Tonight’s Republican Debate Podium-Order Rationale Revealed" states that the candidates polling the best will be placed in the middle of the on-screen lineup.

Will the other candidates go after Mitt Romney or will all of them gang-up on President Obama? North Carolina's Times Union reports that the President was in N. Carolina today, working on what may be his only obstacle to re-election: Jobs.

The debate, tonight, will be especially interesting to Republican activists and primary voters, who are searching for a good-looking and good-sounding candidate. Those people will decide who the nominee will be and will be comparing what Romney has to say about the issues important to them with what Pawlenty and the other candidates have to say about them. If Palin isn't there, she won't figure in those discussions.

Update: "Michele Bachmann announces presidential campaign" -- CBS News

Update: CBS News' "GOP debate: The winners and losers" has some opinion about the debate, as well as links to several other debate stories.

Sarah Palin Under Pressure to Make Up Her Mind

Now, no wise cracking that Sarah doesn't have a mind to make up.

From msnbc.com's "Iowa GOP chief: 'Risky' for Palin to ignore Iowa:"

The Iowa Republican Party chairman said Thursday that if Sarah Palin seeks the presidency, she shouldn't think she can win the GOP nomination without seriously participating in the first-in-the-nation caucuses

Matthew Strawn said Iowa caucus-goers do not want to be taken for granted and that they demand to meet — and be wooed by — presidential hopefuls. He said Iowans cherish their role in asking the tough questions at town halls, coffee shops and farm co-ops — and will punish candidates who ignore them.

"I don't know why you'd want to take yourself out of the national conversation by not participating in Iowa," Strawn said, suggesting voters would sour on any nominee who ignored the state in the nominating process. "I don't think you can write off Iowa's electoral votes if you're the nominee." ...

Of course, Sarah finds it difficult to make decisions (or doesn't know what she's talking about). Salon's "Palin tries to walk back First Amendment tweet," has the most recent example:

Sarah Palin is now claiming that a tweet she sent out about First Amendment rights was misinterpreted to mean that she opposed the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling in the Westboro Baptist Church case this week. Salon and many other outlets wrote about what appeared to be Palin's clear opposition to that ruling, which held that protesters from the fringe church could hold demonstrations outside soldiers' funerals. It seemed to be pretty clear-cut: ...

Perhaps Palin will make up her mind by May 5th. The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza writes:

... But when might we know the full scope of the field? Circle May 5 on your calendars.

That's the day of the first-in-the-south presidential debate being hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party and, more importantly for our purposes, Fox News Channel. ...

It's not yet certain that former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee will run, but if he does there may be some tension between Palin and Huckabee. He has criticized Natalie Portman's pregnancy. What must he be thinking about Bristol Palin's?

Decisions ... decisions ...

One of Mama Grizzly's Cubs: The sound of silence

Here is Arizona's Governor, Jan Brewer, introducing herself at a debate for the state's gubernatorial candidates:



Hey! When you've done everything that can possibly be done, is there any point in doing anything more?

The NY Times' Caucus blog has a story, here.