Newt set to slither into 2012 race

It's not definite, but if true, it's the perfect kickoff for the official Stupid Season. Rumor has it the GOP's favorite serial adulterer is going to fire the starting gun on 2012:

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, is set to confirm his intention to explore a presidential campaign — the first step toward becoming an official candidate for the Republican nomination.

Of course it could be a fake out to get the national media to attend his presser, but since he's been already been suspended from Fox "News", he's got nothing to lose by offically declaring at this point.

Of more interest to me is the jockeying over who gets to hold the early primaries. I'd actually like to see the roster get shaken up. There's no good reason I can see for this to be set in stone. It's unfair that the same states get to set the slate every single time and it doesn't reflect the demographics of our population. A more equitable arrangement would be to divide it regionally and give one state in every region the early slot.

That aside, the RNC is serious about preserving the status quo:

Those rules are fairly strict this year: states that improperly schedule their contests before March 1 risk losing the ability to seat their delegates at the national convention in the summer of 2012 — the ultimate loss of influence in picking the party’s nominee.

And this just says it all about the sorry state of political system:

But beyond that, the RNC has threatened that states could find themselves in less desirable hotels during the convention and without guest and VIP passes to hand out. As Mr. Strawn puts it, “That is a problem for state party leaders trying to figure out how to keep people happy.”

And by "people" they mean wealthy donors. It's not about good governance. It's all about the cocktail parties.