The field of Republicans running for president in 2012 is already crowded, but the eventual nominee may be someone who has not even joined the race yet, at least not officially. Several candidates, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, are waiting on the sidelines, edging closer to jumping into the race as they watch a field of committed candidates fail to excite the public. And the unannounced candidates have a real shot at capturing the nomination, GOP strategists say.
Giuliani is already tied with or running ahead of the field’s presumed front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in several polls even though Romney jumped into the race last week and Giuliani has made no decision.
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The lack of enthusiasm among Republican voters for the current candidates was evident in a recent Pew Research poll, which found that only a quarter of voters held an excellent or good impression of their party’s field.
“Asked for a single word to describe the GOP field,” Pew researchers reported, “the top response is ‘unimpressed.’ ”
“The field is as wide open as any time on the Republican side in well over half a century,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres.
The lack of a true front-runner has attracted a crowd of undecided Republicans to New Hampshire in recent weeks. While Romney was officially starting his candidacy Thursday, former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was driving through the state on a bus tour of patriotic sites, strongly hinting at her interest in joining the race without making it official.
But neither Romney nor Palin has been able to secure a significant lead in the polls. Neither has more than 20 percent of the vote, a weak position from which to challenge President Obama.
In the meantime, other names have also been attracting attention in the Granite State, which has the first-in-the-nation primary.
Giuliani has been making speeches across the state and said he is now seriously weighing a second run for the office, trying to put his failed 2008 presidential bid behind him. Giuliani plans to spend the summer in New Hampshire to build a grass-roots network. He was 1 percentage point ahead of Romney in a recent poll, and strategists point out that Giuliani could easily win some of the most delegate-rich states, including California, New Jersey and New York.
Huntsman, who was a popular governor with strong conservative roots, has also been spending time in New Hampshire as he leans more closely to jumping in as an official candidate.
“You will see he has the potential to catch fire,” said Ayres, who would be Huntsman’s pollster if he becomes a candidate.
The biggest wild card could be Perry, the longest-serving Texas governor, who would be the only sitting state executive in the race if he decides to join.
Election analyst Jim Ellis, of Prism Information Network, says the charismatic Perry could hold a significant advantage over other candidates because he could win in the South, a region where Romney is notoriously weak. Winning the South, Ellis said, is key to capturing the GOP nomination.
“Then you take it one step beyond,” Ellis said, “and say how does Perry match up with Obama and the answer might be very well.”
