While some social conservatives continue to grumble about the gay rights group GOProud, it will be included at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) event due to be held in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 10-12, which will be packed with potential Republican presidential candidates.

U.S. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas announced this week that they would be speaking at the event, joining Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. No word yet on whether or not U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or U.S. Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana will attend, but they have been invited. Florida’s own U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will also be speaking at the event ... The possible Republican candidates are also turning their focus to South Carolina, the first Southern state to hold a presidential primary. Gingrich spoke in Myrtle Beach on Thursday night. Santorum will head to South Carolina this weekend, marking his eighth visit to the Palmetto State. The conservative Catholic Santorum will be the keynote speaker of the Stand Up For Life March in Columbia on Saturday and will speak to the Aiken County GOP on Monday … It’s increasingly appearing that Romney is ready to launch a second bid for the Republican nod. This week, he stepped down from the board of directors of the Marriott International hotel chain -- just as he did before running a first time for the 2008 nomination …

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell took a pass at running for the Republican presidential nomination. McDonnell said he currently has a better job, noting that Thomas Jefferson’s tombstone lists his service as governor of the Old Dominion while ignoring his presidency … Speaking of Virginia, it could get a bit more competitive in the primaries. There is a proposal in the Virginia Legislature to lower the threshold of getting on the primary ballots from 10,000 signatures to 5,000. More than a few candidates have failed to make the current threshold, including Chris Dodd, Mike Gravel and Duncan Hunter back in 2008 … While Daniels had a slow 2010, he is increasing his pace and raising his profile -- and creating more buzz that he intends to make a run at the GOP nomination. Besides having hit D.C. earlier in the month, Daniels will be heading to Cincinnati to speak to the Hamilton County GOP in February …

While it’s on center stage when it holds the first caucus, Iowa is almost always a competitive state in the general elections, though Democrats have won it in every presidential election since 1988 with the exception of 2004. A new poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP), a firm with connections to Democrats, showed that President Barack Obama has an advantage over his potential Republican foes in Iowa, but the state looks to be competitive once again in 2012 if either Romney or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee ends up with the GOP nod. PPP had Obama beating Huckabee by 4 points and Romney by 6 points -- but the president did not top 50 percent against either of those two Republicans. Obama’s chances of carrying Iowa look better against two other potential Republican candidates. Cracking 50 percent against both of them, Obama beat Gingrich by 13 points and Palin by 16 points … While Republicans may be on a hot streak in New Jersey these days, and could offer a serious challenge to U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez in 2012 if they field the right candidate, PPP conducted a poll that showed Obama looks safe in the Garden State, crushing potential Republican opponents including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie … PPP also offered a snapshot at the Republican contest in delegate-rich Pennsylvania. Huckabee led the pack with 21 percent, followed by Palin at 18 percent and Gingrich with 16 percent. Romney placed fourth at 14 percent while Santorum, who lost his Senate seat in 2006, placed fifth in his own backyard with 11 percent …

Sports handicapper Wayne Allyn Root, who was former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr’s running mate in 2008, is getting the kind of media attention that most third-party candidates would kill for. Root, who has his eyes on running for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination, had more than 20 interviews this week, most of which were on talk-radio shows spread out across the country … Businessman Donald Trump is publicly mulling about running for the presidency again. While Trump flirted with running for the Reform Party nomination back in 2000, he is now kicking over the possibility of running as a Republican. Veteran Republican strategist Roger Stone is talking up Trump’s potential, just as he did back in 2000 … While there was speculation that former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who lost his bid for re-election, would challenge Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2012, the former senator reiterated this week that he was not interested and was focusing on writing a study on American foreign policy.

 

Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.