The GOP wake-up call, cont'd

Even conservative columnist George Will sees the proverbial writing on the wall. Expressing disgust at Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and other "spotlight-chasing candidates of 2012," Will thinks sensible Americans are now "detecting vibrations of weirdness emanating from people associated with the [Republican] party." His admonishment is striking. Will suspects that there are, at most, five plausible GOP candidates: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Utah governor and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts governor Romney and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. He concludes on this damning note: "But the nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons." Ouch.