Is There a Deadline for Entering the Presidential Race?

Recently people have been agitating about Sarah Palin. "Why won't she declare that she is running?", they ask. "Why doesn't she bow out and endorse someone in the race?", they demand. I sense what "they" mean is why doesn't she get out of the way of my preferred candidate. To all of the various plaintive cries for her to decide immediately, I say what's the rush? Why are all these people rushing in to a race that is so far off? Other than Gov. Rick Perry who just declared last Saturday, all of the GOP candidates jumped into the fray way too early. At this point in 1951, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was still serving as Supreme NATO Commander in Europe. When did we start making a presidential campaign a two year process? If my memory serves me, it is a recent phenomenon of starting active campaigning prior to January of the election year. Why are candidates deciding to enter the fray earlier? In the 2008 campaign Fred Thompson was criticized for supposedly starting late. The complaints about Thompson's entry into the race centered on the notion that money had already been committed to other candidates. I could be wrong, but the money issue may not be as critical to a potential Palin campaign. A lot of campaign funds go towards staff and administrative concern (travel, etc), but by far the largest expenditure is on advertising to get the candidate's name out to potential voters. With her strong base of support and very active presence in social media Palin may be able to overcome some of those concerns. If Palin chooses to enter the race for the GOP nomination I have no doubt that even if she makes her announcement in October she will quickly raise enough money to wage an effective primary campaign.

Bottom line: people need to just relax. Sure, we all want Obama out of office. However, starting the primary season earlier doesn't bring the election or the next inauguration any sooner. Clearing the field for a nominee immediately just allows the extreme left wing media more time to undermine our nominee. Look how Perry has been treated since his announcement. Media attacks the one in best shape to beat Obama. Notice the media is not attacking Romney as he is their preferred candidate against Obama.

Regardless of who ends up our nominee, we need to ensure we have properly and fully vetted the candidate well ahead of the general election. Dem's and their complicit allies in the media will be doing opposition research and we don't need any October surprises (Bush DUI for example). Right now Palin is the only GOP candidate who has been vetted. Thoroughly check out the rest. They are applying for an important job so we need to give them a serious review.