GOP strategist Karl Rove says he sees no clear favorite for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination as speculation grows about who is in the race and who isn’t.
“There is no front-runner in Iowa; there’s no front-runner in America,” Rove said on Fox News. “We should welcome that.”
Since early November, Rove has made similar comments while speaking in Chicago, Phoenix and a few other cities. But these most recent comments, made Monday night during an appearance on a high-profile conservative news show, bring Rove’s view of the Republican primaries onto the national stage.
“If you take a look at the several polls that have been done so far, there are four candidates who tend to be toward the top, the better-known candidates, but none of them above 20 percent,” Rove told Fox’s Sean Hannity. Though he did not mention any candidates by name, he has dinged Sarah Palin, one presumed front-runner, on a few occasions (though he’s also gone out of his way to note Palin’s popularity and potential strengths as a candidate).
The fact that no single candidate is leading in early polls “means this contest is going to be wide open,” Rove said, and “that’s going to be good for conservatives and good for the Republicans.”
{Capitol News Company, LLC/Matzav.com}
