Is Mitt Romney now the happiest guy in the world?

[JSojourner]

Willard is certainly looking more now like a presumptive nominee than he did a few days ago.  But I continue to insist that Mike Huckabee is quite formidable.  Palin is really a non-starter.  She's accumulated enough stupid to rule her out already and look...we have four years to go.  More stupid is forthcoming from that tribe, I promise.

But was Sanford a serious threat?  Not really.  Just because bloggers talked about him and some conservatives hoped he would run doesn't mean he had any designs of that nature.  Regarding Sanford, I have always been guided by A.H. Duke's assessment...in part, because Sanford is his Governor and in part, because Duke has friends who are fairly close to the man. (Presumably, not Argentinians.)  Sanford has never really wanted the job, according to them. Take that for what it's worth.

Romney should look to Huckabee as his primary competition, with one eye on Pawlenty. On the back bench, he might want to keep track of John Thune.  But we can be reasonably confident that the GOP will not nominate a Presidential candidate who is a centrist.  Romney would be as close as they come and he is now very conservative.

Regardless, the primary will be great fun for those of us who enjoy this sort of thing.