The Days of Hat Tossing are Growing Short

Lots of hats have been tossed into the ring of GOP Presidential hopeful. Some have already been tossed back. The time remaining to get serious about running is drawing to a close for those as yet uncommitted.

Consider how early the primaries are. The logistics of having a campaign organization, and the financing to support it, up and running in time to make a decent showing are monumental. Especially since some of the frontrunners haven't stopped campaigning since getting trounced by a centrist-loser in 2008. You can't wait until Halloween to jump into this masquerade ball. Honestly, if a candidate is not in by the 4th of July I'll go ahead and say that they will never prevail.

There are a couple of big guns left out there with a hat in hand who could make the big toss, namely Palin and DeMint. While everyone has heard of Palin before, and almost certainly has an opinion on her either good or bad, not a lot of ink (or electrons) gets spilled about DeMint. As such, I'd like to cover why you should know about him here. Besides, Palin isn't going to run anyway. ;)

Senator DeMint (R-SC) is a fundraising machine. The work he did raising money for his compatriots in the US Senate was nothing short of Herculean. While the Stygian Stables of Capitol Hill are not yet fully cleansed, he certainly directed a river of money to some very conservative winners in 2010. One of the reasons to get into the Presidential race early is to start fundraising, but Senator DeMint has the resources and contacts all across the country to fundraise in a big way at the drop of a (Presidential) hat. While money is not everything, it certainly helps.

Still, Senator DeMint has another plus going for him - regional appeal. With the ill-fated voyage of the Gingrich campaign's 3-hour cruise, Bobby Jindal staying home, Huckabee still playing on TV and Haley Barbour bowing out that leaves an opening for a Southerner. If that Southerner also happens to be from the early primary state of South Carolina, all the better. If that Southerner were also broadly embraced by the Tea Party, better still.

In short, the days of little known candidates hoping to have a shot are over. What little time remains, less than a month by my estimation, is only open for the heavy hitters. These are the rare candidates who can quickly mobilize, and pay for, a campaign with a single news conference. The only question that remains is, "Will they or won't they?"