Developments may shake up GOP 2012 field

WASHINGTON -- The still unsettled race for the Republican nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012 is getting more interesting.

After months of resisting calls to join the contest, Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Friday he would consider it. That could reshape the GOP field, adding a sitting governor who has never lost an election.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin also sent a jolt through the party with the announcement of a campaign-style bus tour along the East Coast. And former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is heading to New Hampshire this week, further stirring speculation that he will jump into the still-gelling field.

Meanwhile, Obama is sitting pretty for now -- and filling Democratic campaign coffers. Along with the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden, Tuesday's upset Democratic victory in a New York congressional race has further boosted his fortunes.

Although the economic recovery is slow and his approval rating is only lukewarm, Obama is just about where he wants to be with 17 months to go before Election Day 2012.

On the GOP side, Perry would bring conservative bona fides, a proven fundraising record and a fresh voice. Even as his closest advisers say he has no intention of getting in the race, he has methodically raised his profile, fanning interest.

"I'm going to think about it," Perry said Friday. "I think about a lot of things." That was enough to set off speculation he would jump into a campaign that lacks a clear front-runner.

Social conservatives are still shopping for a candidate. Tea party activists want one of their own. Establishment Republicans remain divided on a choice.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is the closest to a favorite at this point. Like Giuliani, he ran for the nomination in 2008, losing out to Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Romney will formally kick off his campaign in the early primary state of New Hampshire on Thursday, the same day that Giuliani is now scheduled to headline a fundraiser for the state Republican Party and have lunch with several GOP activists.

Last month, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said he wouldn't make a White House bid; that unlocked many of the donors for Perry. It also opened the door for a sought-after Southern candidate.

While former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is running his campaign from Georgia, he has lived near Washington for decades and is hardly the regional candidate Perry could be. Mark McKinnon, a veteran political consultant who advised President George W. Bush's campaigns, said of Perry, "The only real question is: Why wouldn't he run?"

"The candidates that are running are not the candidates that people want," said Ryan Hecker of the Houston Tea Party Society. "They're looking for someone, almost wistfully."

With Reuters