It’s Hardly Fair

By Ed Hoffman

The overcrowded Republican presidential field has officially hit the point of otherworldly, with three more candidates entering the field in the last week, at least two more expected to announce this week, and up to another half dozen entering before the summer’s end. I’m not even sure it’s necessary to say their names anymore, but I suppose for the sake of delivering a well-rounded column, I need to. Last week, another candidate to enter the race was former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who we have seen and heard from very little over the past four years as he has been off producing Christian films and only very occasionally showing up on a Sunday news show here and there. Santorum was quickly followed up by former New York Governor George Pataki, who you may remember as the guy who stood behind Mayor Rudy Giuliani in all the post-9/11 press conferences in 2001 – just nodding, basically, while Giuliani showed real leadership. Pataki has been out of politics – and for that matter, the public eye altogether – since 2006. Could a candidate possibly be any more irrelevant?

And now, this week, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina announced…oh sorry, I almost drifted off to sleep. Predictably, former Texas Governor Rick Perry will announce by the end of the week on June 4, as he has said that will be the date of his announcement. (Here’s my question: If you’ve already set the date for June 4, why not just announce now?). At least it’s happening this week, because Rick Perry is my guy and it’s been a good few weeks since anyone I actually care about has gotten in this race.

The predictions are that the next set of candidates to enter will be three current governors: Ohio Governor John Kasich, who has said all the right things recently but doesn’t necessarily resonate with a whole lot of people; Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who hasn’t said much of anything recently but seems to resonate with a whole lot of people; and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who would have been alright if he was the same person we saw four years ago, when everyone wanted him to run against Barack Obama. Now that his ego has come unhinged, I’ve lost interest and don’t believe I’m alone in that.

I haven’t even listed everyone, folks. On my radio show last week, I named a total of 17 people, and there are actually a few additional names that the media continues to bat around. As the candidates who have already declared continue to plug away, these new candidates will divert attention – and more importantly, money – away from them, and that’s hardly fair.

Ed Hoffman is the host of the Main Event on AM590, which airs Saturday 9:30AM- 10:30AM and Sunday 4:00PM- 5:00PM. Follow him on Twitter @EdHoffman, and like him on Facebook by searching The Main Event 590.