STAFF EDIT: Without a chance

Yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that he would not be entering the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, despite a barrage of rumors that he would throw his hat in the ring at the eleventh hour.

With the possibility of Christie’s name on the ticket eliminated, the GOP has returned their attention to the competition between Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the nomination. However, recent polling shows that Perry’s support has significantly decreased in the past few weeks, while Romney continues to have trouble winning the support of Tea Party-ers and other Republican conservatives.

Meanwhile, the other candidates in the GOP race seem to be facing more and more insurmountable setbacks. Michele Bachmann’s poll numbers are less than half of what they were a month ago, before she got involved with Perry’s handling of the HPV vaccine in Texas. After a decidedly unflattering Newsweek cover and other media mishaps, it seems that her chances are now relatively slim.

Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are both widely considered too old to run and Herman Cain is widely considered a former CEO of a pizza business and not a serious politician. Santorum and Huntsman are both bringing up the rear with three and one points in the polls, respectively.

To the Republican party’s dismay, the search for a quality candidate strong enough to challenge President Obama seems to be as yet unsuccessful. Polling numbers have been particularly capricious within the GOP race, capitulating to whatever scandal is given the media spotlight that week. If any of these candidates were viable challengers, small missteps such as Bachmann’s HPV reaction and Perry’s old hunting grounds would not have as great an impact on voter opinion. In fact, the only candidate who has remained relatively constant in the polls is Romney, and without the full support of the Republican Party, he has little chance in surpassing Obama in the voting booth come 2012. The Republican Party needs a solid candidate around which they can rally before they can hope to uproot the incumbent.