The 2012 Presidential Primary Poll #1 is over. Here are the results.

• Ron Paul — 40%
• An Undeclared Candidate — 30%
• Hermain Cain — 20%
• Newt Ginrich, Gary E. Johnson, Fred Karger, and Someone who said “No” — 0%

For week #2 the field of declared candidates has increased quite a bit. This week you can choose between Hermain Cain, Newt Ginrich, Gary E. Johnson, Fred Karger, Roy Moore, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and the three other options, A Perenial Candidate, An Undeclared Candidate, and Someone who said “No”. The names in Bold are new this week. If you pick one of the three generic options feel free to name your choice here in the comments.

Once again, results, and a new poll, will be posted next Sunday.

UPDATE: I realised that four of the candidates, Moore, Roemer, Romney, and Santorum, have still only formed exploratory committees. They have been removed from the poll options, but can still be selected as an Undeclared Candidate.

If you can…

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The race for 2012 is under way. Of course you can’t tell who’s playing if you don’t have a program. Here is your Republican list of candidates as of today (May 13th, 2011).

First up, those who have officially declared their candidacy with the FEC. It is divided into two sections, those who are running and those who are always running. The links are to their official campaign websites.

• Declared:
  • Herman Cain, former Federal Reserve banker and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza — Georgia (Updated – Announced 5/21)
  • Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives — Georgia
  • Gary E. Johnson, former governor — New Mexico
  • Fred Karger, political consultant and gay rights activist — California
  • Ron Paul, U.S. Representative — Texas (Updated – Announced 5/13)
  • Tim Pawlenty, former governor — Minnesota (Updated – Announced 5/22)
• Perennial Candidates:
  • Andy Martin, Illinois
  • Jimmy McMillan, New York
  • Jonathon Sharkey, Florida

The candidates below have formed exploratory committees, but have not formally declared.

Exploratory:

• Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court of Alabama
• Buddy Roemer, former governor — Louisiana
• Mitt Romney, former governor — Massachusetts
• Rick Santorum, former Senator — Pennsylvania

Of course there are others out there toying with a run. I’ll add them later. But for now, that is the field. Thoughts?

If you can…

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You tell me. What’s going to happen in today’s primaries? The comments are open and there is a new poll in the sidebar.

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Or as some are calling it, Super Tuesday Lite. Texas and Ohio are the big prizes. Vermont and Rhode Island are also in play.

On the Republican side, John McCain only needs a score of delegates to wrap up the nomination. He can get there with only 56% of the delegates in Texas and Ohio alone. Look for him to get more than that. The best possible outcome for Mike Huckabee is another invitation to appear on SNL.

It looks like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will continue to slug it out until their convention. The CNN count only has the two separated by 109 delegates. That separation is unlikely to change much today. It would take significant wins by Clinton in all four contests to bring the count back to a dead heat.

What does that mean going forward? Bulldog Pundit offers this analysis:

Having the contest undecided before the convention would be an amazing thing to watch, just from a “junkie” point of view, and is something people my age have never seen. Just the books that would come out of it years later would be fascinating.

From a “blogger” point of view I would love to see how much of what would be going on in those “smoke filled backrooms” (at least that’s what they used to be called when you could smoke in rooms) filled with party bosses would remain secret in this new media age. One thing is for sure, people wouldn’t be waiting for the evening news to find out what happened. Imagine what a “brokered convention” would be like in the blogger age.

It is going to be an interesting spring and summer.

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I just saw on FOX News that Maryland has extended the time that polling locations will be open for today’s presidential primaries. Weather is awful, and according to one report traffic on I-395 is the “worst since the attacks of 9/11″.

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Polls are open for the primaries surrounding the nation’s capitol in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The question is, will these primaries answer any questions? What questions? Don Surber has the list.

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bRight @ Night will be on the air in just a few minutes. I’ll be discussing the blogosphere and the primaries. You can join in by calling (718) 664-9725.

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Many people got a laugh out of the Wacky Warning Label Contest where the winning label advised, “Danger: Avoid Death”. That got me thinking, shouldn’t there be warning labels applied to the 2008 presidential primary candidates? Here are a few to get you started. Leave yours in the comments and I’ll try to move them here as I get the chance. If you have a photoshop entry you can send it to lakelandjim at gmail dot com.

Mitt Romney — WARNING: Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear.

Hillary Clinton — DANGER: Contains toxic amounts of socialist programs.

Mike Huckabee — NOTICE: Be aware that this product may inflate and deflate very rapidly. Use caution when jumping on the band wagon.

Barack Obama — HAZARD: Standing between this candidate and “She Who Should Rule” can be hazerdous to your health and well being

Your turn.

From my favorite pirate William Teach:
John Edwards — Warning: May be hiding under wife’s skirt
Denis Kuchinich — Warning: Hottie wife may distract from moonbattery
Hillary Clinton — Caution: Husband may try and get into your wife’s or daughters skirt
Joe Biden — Warning: you may have to learn where Delaware actually is
Bill Richardson — Warning: UFO crossing
Ron Paul — Caution: Truthers Aboard
Rudy — Warning: Alimony may exceed earnings

William also sent this along:

Jay at Stop The ACLU said, “Even though I’m rooting for Thompson, I can’t resist but to play into the meme he’s been stuck with.”

Thompson — Warning: May Cause Drowsiness
Rudy — Warning: Gun Grabbin May Occur

From Political Pistachio’s Douglas Gibbs:
Any Democrat Candidate — Warning! [no need to add anything else]

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After weeks and months of changes, leap-frogging, legislation and court battles, it looks as if the 2008 primary schedule may finally get to use ink. The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the state can go ahead with the planned January 15th primary.

Michigan’s Jan. 15 presidential primary can go forward, the state Supreme Court decided Wednesday, keeping alive the state’s bid to be one of the 2008 campaign’s first contests.

[...]

In its 4-1 decision Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court overturned lower court rulings that said the law setting up the primary was unconstitutional because it would let the state political parties keep track of voters’ names and whether they took Democratic or GOP primary ballots but withhold that information from the public.

That must have been the news that New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner was waiting to hear.

New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner called the Associated Press today “to say he would announce the date of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary sometime after 3:30 p.m. (ET),” the wire service reports.

I haven’t seen anything on this yet, but will continue to watch. The USA Today article linked above suggests that, “Most observers are betting Gardner will choose Jan. 8.”

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You can read my take on the Primary maneuvering taking place this year here.

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