So Mike Huckabee is out and Richard Lugar is in? Donald Trump is threatening to run but Sarah Palin is making too much money to really consider it? Already the 2012 race for the White House has shaped up as an hysterical ride, at least on the GOP side, but it will have a ways to go to top 2008.
To refresh your memory, here are 12 of the most fun quotes from that campaign, all drawn from my book Why Obama Won: The Making of a President 2008 -- and Lessons for Today, just re-published this week in e-book form. Try to identify who uttered each of the following remarks, answers at the bottom.
1. "I am not ready to announce yet -- even though it's clear that the voters are desperate for a white, male, middle-aged, Jesus-trumpeting alternative."
a) Mike Huckabee
b) Mitt Romney
c) Stephen Colbert
d) Kurt Warner
2. "He's the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."
a) Peggy Noonan
b) Hillary Clinton
c) Sarah Palin
d) Joe Biden
3. This commentator said on CNN that the winner in 2008 simply had to be Hillary or Obama because Bush has been so bad "he has screwed it up for any white man to be elected."
a) Kanye West
b) Bill Maher
c) Alec Baldwin
d) Chris Rock
4. "Thank goodness, my cousin, Dick Cheney, will not be on the ballot this November...that's embarrassing. When people look at their genealogical charts they like to find someone cool."
a) Ted Nugent
b) George Clooney
c) Barack Obama
d) D.L. Hughley
5. "The sooner we accept the basic differences between men and women, the sooner we can stop arguing about it and start having sex."
a) John Edwards
b) Bill Clinton
c) Rudy Giuliani
d) Stephen Colbert
6. Who quipped, after some on Wall Street claimed that a possible Democratic victory in November was already hurting the economy: "How bad do the Democrats have to be to pre-fuck the economy?"
a) Paul Krugman
b) Robert Reich
c) Jon Stewart
d) Paul Volcker
7. "That's all right -- he's still a scumbag...he's one of the guys that propagated all those lies about Whitewater for Kenneth Starr. He's just a dishonest guy -- can't help it.'"
a) Bill O'Reilly
b) Bill Clinton
c) Bill Maher
d) Bill Richardson
8. "I want to cut his [Obama's] nuts out."
a) Michael Savage
b) Dan Savage
c) Jesse Jackson
d) Osama bin Laden
9. "I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some shit and just fuckin' chillin' I guess....Ya fuck with me I'll kick [your] ass."
a) Larry Craig
b) Todd Palin
c) Sean Penn
d) Levi Johnston
10. "Every morning, when Alaskans wake up, one of the first things they do, is look outside to see if there are any Russians hanging around. And if there are, you gotta go up to them and ask, 'What are you doing here?' and if they can't give you a good reason, it's our responsibility to say, you know, 'Shoo! Get back over there!'"
a) Mike Gravel
b) Jewel
c) Sarah Palin
d) Tina Fey
11. "Brothers should pull up their pants. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on."
a) Ann Coulter
b) Will.i.am
c) Barack Obama
d) Michael Steele
12. "I guess it's kinda like being a community organizer."
a) Bill Ayers
b) Rob Lowe
c) Sarah Palin
d) Rev. Wright
Answers: c, d, d, c, d, c, b, c, d, d, c, c
Greg Mitchell's most recent books are The Age of Wikileaks and Bradley Manning. His book Why Obama Won: The Making of a President 2008 -- and Lessons for Today, just re-published this week in e-book form.