Republican Contenders as of May 15, 2011

Well the race is on for the Republican contender to face President Obama in the Presidential elections in 2012. Amongst the names that have formally announced their decision are Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. Both have been fairly charismatic in the past, but out of the two, neither may have what it takes to acquire the nomination for the Republican candidate. One surprise drop out, Mike Huckabee, will not run for President. He claims that his heart is just not in it this year. He most likely has all of the difficult memories of the last election, when John McCain beat him out for the Republican Candidate since George W. Bush could not re-run after serving two terms as President.
So what are the strengths and the weaknesses of the two candidates that plan to run so far?!!

For Newt Gingrich, he announced his candidacy on May 11th. He was most responsible for the Republican surge in congress in 1984. Regardless of who runs against him for the nomination, he will drive the rest of the field crazy. He will dominate the Republican debates. Even with this said, I believe he doesn't have a chance to become the Republican nominee for the party. But what are the real reasons why he is running. Maybe he can explain why as his campaign progresses. He seems to be a very creative person, but I don't believe that he is disciplined. It will be interesting to see what message he plans to bring to his campaign. It will also be interesting is seeing him compete with other Republicans during the debate.

As for Ron Paul, he is the Texas Congressman who announced his candidacy in a television interview on May 13th that he will make his third bid for the presidency. He may not seem to be much to many in the mainstream Republican party, but he was the winner of the straw poll at last year's CPAC convention. He is very vocal for smaller government and a strict constitutionalist. In 1988 he ran as a libertarian and in 2008, he ran as a Republican. The problem he faces with his baggage will be whether he will be supported by the mainstream Republicans.

Others expected to join the race will be the well known figure Mitt Romney. He is the former Massachusetts governor and set up a presidential exploratory committee on April 11th. He still has yet to make a decision to run. He is also one of the richest candidates to run for President, as in 2008, he raised $65.1 million in contributions for the 2008 nomination, but still lost. Besides what he raised, he contributed $42.3 million from his own personal funds.
In the past, he ran for Senator in 1995 in Massachusetts but lots to Ted Kennedy. He won Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and only served one term as he did not re-seek election in 2006. He signed into law what is called the Massachusetts health care reform legislation, which provided near-universal health insurance access via subsidies and state-level mandates. He published a book since the last election called "NO Apology". The Case for American Greatness.