Or should we call it the race not to run for President in 2012?  Mitch Daniels is out.  Mike Huckabee is out.  Mike Pence is out.  Haley Barbour is out.  Chris Christie says he doesn't want to run.  Sarah Palin will most likely not run.

Others we have heard from, but are as yet "undecided" are Michelle Bachmann, John Huntsman and Mitt Romney.

What are we left with?  Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson, Rick Santorum, and very soon Tim Pawlenty. 

A recent poll found that only 41% of GOP voters are satisfied with the GOP Presidential field so far. 

So why, after all President Obama has done to this country, is the GOP field so weak?  Why is there the perceived reluctance to take on Obama in 2012? 

Part of the answer lies within the media.  Several candidates have backgrounds to explain whether its Mike Huckabee's record as Governor of Arkansas, Mitt Romney's support of government run healthcare in Massachusetts, or the media lightning rod Sarah Palin. 

Part of the answer also lies within the GOP itself as it is divided between the candidates.  The GOP establishment has it's favorites - John Huntsman and Mitt Romney.  The libertarians and conservatives have their favorites - Ron Paul, Herman Cain and Gary Johnson.  Moderates can be satisfied with Rick Santorum and Tim Pawlenty. 

The above is a picture of the GOP in a nutshell right now.  The GOP is rudderless without a singular, or even 2 or 3, hard nosed voices for the opposition to President Obama.  In addition, the GOP is divided between the establishment kingmakers and a very dissatisfied conservative base. 

I've been on the political scene for quite awhile now and as I talk with conservatives or  even Republicans, morale is low.  Nobody has confidence in the GOP to get the job done in Congress, let alone have confidence in anyone running for President.  I know many conservatives that are ready to bolt the GOP altogether.  A recent poll found that 52% of GOPers would go a 3rd party route. 

The GOP establishment thinks inside a box.  I talked with one high level GOP official recently who expressed a desire to impose tariffs on imports which I promptly brought up Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act 1931 which helped put the Great Depression on its course of economic misery.  The GOP establishment fears the media, especially the 24 hour news cycle.  They also fear losing control over who they want to run for office.  The RNC and their mindless gaggle of automatons who do the RNC's every bidding without question (theirs is not to question why, theirs is but to lose and cry) love the idea of the Tea Parties and they give the Tea Parties lip service, but they refuse to take a hardline stance on any issue that the Tea Parties expound. 

The conservative divide in the GOP is deep and  can be repaired if the right candidate came along.  We hear conservatives angry about having to swallow their beliefs and vote for a candidate they may only agree with 50% of the time, myself included.  If the GOP establishment would come down out of their ivory castles and actually listen to people outside the Beltway and their cocktail parties, I believe the GOP would find their candidate to beat President Obama. 

As it stands right now, I am not optimistic in anyway about the GOP's chances against Obama.  If the election were held today, the GOP would lose.  And I think we all know where the blame will fall - the media and conservatives.  Our 1980 moment is quickly turning into our Adlai Stevenson 1952 & 1956 moment.