I can tell you right now what's keeping a lot of Republicans out is the certain knowledge of the shitstorm they would face once they became the nominee. The 2008 election was a serious wakeup call for Republican hopefuls. The Democratic candidate got a pass from the media on everything. As far as they were concerned, Barack Obama sprang from the head of Zeus sometime in 2007. No more information was needed, and anybody asking for it was an "extremist." Meanwhile, you could probably find Sarah Palin's genome on public display somewhere. Anybody who's running as the Republican in 2012 has to know that the media will set out to utterly destroy them, their families, and pretty much everyone they know. In short, we're heading rapidly for the point where no sane person would run for the office as a Republican.

We need someone as a candidate who has a solid hold on the right set of principles. "Reasonable" seems to be defined now as "someone who isn't going to be a serious obstacle to Democrats doing whatever the hell they want." I'm well aware of where the Democrat/media bar is for "extreme" is on the Republican side. The word has become an attack word, bereft (as so many of them are) of any objective meaning. Language without thought or meaning is a key political weapon.

ER labels Palin, Bachmann and Gingrich as lunatics. That's where the political conversation stands now. We saw what happened when the Democrats had all the power for a couple of years. This, apparently, was considered "reasonable." In 2010, voters disagreed.

Think about the positions that are now being labeled "extreme:" opposition to higher taxes. The belief that government spends way too much money. The idea the entitlements need major reform. Opposition to nationalized health care. Opposition to environmental dictatorship. Advocating almost ANY cuts in government spending.

Meanwhile, real lunacy goes unchallenged.