Let the Game Begin

Gail Collin's "What's in a Nickname" runs through a laundry list of those who are exploring the possibility of maybe declaring at some time other than now that they are really strongly considering the thought, if not the actual intent, of throwing their hat, if they own one, into the ring of fire to potentially be the 2012 Republican nominee for President of the richest 1% of America to whom they pledge allegiance.

And so it begins. For the next 20 months we will be subject to an endless stream of political commentary, most of which will make all of us less smart, less well informed, and less willing to listen. We will get the fringe players who strut and fret their hour upon the stage, like Trump, Palin, Bachmann, Paul (senior and junior). Hopefully their sound and fury signifying nothing will be here and gone before the warmth of this summer is upon us. If we are in luck, we may have already witnessed the disappearing act of Huckabee, as the dollars he continues to earn as a result of his last failed attempt at this game, prove to be our salvation.

Will we see Daniels (another non-starter on the list of Ms. Collins) emerge as a contender? Is Gingrich 2, who clearly should be a spokesman for either a waffle, pretzel or hula hoops company after his recent running debacle on Libya, really a viable alternative? Can Romney emerge as the most rational of Republicans and somehow distance himself from his own policies on health care? Does Barbour carry excess baggage? And does Pawlenty carry enough weight?

We will have an excruciatingly long time to find out these answers. And if history has taught us anything, it is that the issues front and center today may well be of little note or consequence come November, 2012. When Shakespeare said that " Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time, and all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death" , I wonder if he had the interminable process of political considerations, nominations and elections in mind.