Sarah Palin entered politics in 1992 as a City Councilman for Wasilla and served from 1992 to1995, and one year of her second term before being elected as Mayor of Wasilla (population 6,300) in 1996. She served two terms, during which she used the 2% sales tax initiated by her predecessor to fund many projects and a reduction in property taxes.

After her two terms as Mayor, Palin took the post of Ethics Supervisor of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but resigned in 2004, less than a year later, in protest of the ‘lack of ethics’ shown by fellow Republican members.

After passing on a Senate run in 2004, Palin decided to run in the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial race on a platform of clean government. She won and was sworn in as Alaska s first female governor, as well as its youngest at 42. As governor, her most major achievement was the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), which put a 1,715 mile natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the Continental US at an estimated cost of $26 billion dollars. She also put a measure in place, ACES, which put a tax on oil production profits, and worked on ethics reform issues.

In August of 2008, Palin was tapped by Republican presidential nominee John McCain to be his running mate. As she was not well known outside of her state, the selection was controversial. However, with her good looks, snappy sound bite retorts, and homespun manner, combined with her traditional conservative values, Palin quickly won over the Republican electorate and shored up the party base. Her less than stellar performance in interviews and her merely adequate performance during the vice presidential debates did not bring her support among the general public and the media, who claimed she was inexperienced and unprepared for the post.

After the election loss to the Democratic ticket of Obama/Biden, Sarah Palin laid low from the public eye, focusing on getting back to business in Alaska. Her fame, however, followed her home and showed no signs of diminishing, raising the question of a Palin run for president in 2008. The intense media scrutiny that began during the presidential race continued, creating negative publicity and a rash of ethics complaints against the Governor. Claiming to be tired of the stress of this negativity and believing it to be preventing her from performing her duties as governor, Palin held a press conference on July 3rd, 2009 announcing her decision to not seek re-election to the governor s office in 2010 and her intention to step down on July 26th, 2009, 18 months early.

An immediate frenzy of speculation, as yet unanswered by Palin, as to the real reasons why she stepped down has made her a major news story yet again. In looking at the impact her decision will have on her chances should she pursue the nomination in 2008, the reaction has been mixed. Some pundits have said her career is all but over. However, a poll taken by USA Today from among Republicans the week after the announcement show that over 70% would vote for her should she choose to run for president. Among her base, her leaving office early has done nothing to erode her popularity; in fact it has helped to cement her ‘maverick’ status.

Donald was the fourth of five children of Fred Trump, a wealthy real estate developer based in New York City. Donald was strongly influenced by his father in his eventual goals to make a career in real estate development, and upon his graduation from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, Donald Trump joined his father’s company, The Trump Organization.

Starting with the renovation of the Commodore Hotel into the Grand Hyatt with the Pritzker family, he continued with Trump Tower in New York City and several other residential projects. Trump would later expand into the airline industry (buying the Eastern Shuttle routes), and Atlantic City casino business, including buying the Taj Mahal Casino from the Crosby family, then taking it into bankruptcy. This expansion, both personal and business, led to mounting debt. Much of the news about him in the early 1990s involved his much publicized financial problems, creditor-led bailout, extramarital affair with Marla Maples (whom he later married), and the resulting divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump.

The late 1990s saw a resurgence in his financial situation and fame. In 2001, he completed Trump World Tower, a 72-story residential tower across from the United Nations Headquarters. Also, he began construction on Trump Place, a multi-building development along the Hudson River. Trump owns commercial space in Trump International Hotel and Tower, a 44-story mixed-use (hotel and condominium) tower on Columbus Circle. Trump currently owns several million square feet of prime Manhattan real estate, and remains a major figure in the field of real estate in the United States and a celebrity for his prominent media exposures.

Marco Antonio Rubio

Rubio was the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives during the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions. He was first elected to the Florida House on January 25, 2000, from the 111th district.

David Howell Petraeus

Petraeus has a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy from which he graduated in 1974 as a distinguished cadet (top 5% of his class). He was the General George C. Marshall Award winner as the top graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College class of 1983. He subsequently earned an M.P.A. in 1985 and a Ph.D. in International Relations in 1987 from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He later served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at the United States Military Academy and also completed a fellowship at Georgetown University.

Some news reports have speculated that Petraeus may have interest in running for the presidency, especially after he visited a school known for hosting the presidential debates, New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College. Petraeus lives in New Hampshire. Despite these accounts, Petraeus has categorically asserted that he has no political ambitions. On June 23, 2010, President Obama nominated Petraeus to succeed General Stanley McChrystal as commanding general of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, technically a step down from his position as Commander of United States Central Command, which oversees the military efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and parts of Africa.

Michael Richard “Mike” Pence

In November of 2008, he was also selected to be the Chairman of the House Republican Conference. After helping the Republican Party to regain control of the U.S. House two years later, Pence announced on Nov. 3rd, 2010, that he would be resigning from his position as chairman.  This touched off renewed speculation that he might be positioning himself for a 2012 gubernatorial or presidential election bid.

Robert Francis “Bob” McDonnell

Since taking office, McDonnell has battled on issues including declaring a Confederate History Month, balancing the state’s budget, extending a contract to outsource the state’s computer operations, selling off the state’s liquor stores, and promoting drilling of oil and gas wells off Virginia’s shores. He has sought to fund transportation improvements from non-traditional revenues sources including a proposal to auction-off liquor stores and establishing a toll booth at the Virginia-North Carolina border. He has used his amendatory veto power to restrict state funding for abortions. McDonnell’s term expires in January 2014, and the Virginia Constitution prevents him from running for a second consecutive term.

Fred Karger

He is also a potential Republican presidential candidate for 2012.

Gary Earl Johnson

Founder of one of New Mexico’s largest construction companies, Johnson entered politics for the first term by running for Governor of New Mexico in 1994 on a conservative, low-tax, anti-crime platform. He beat incumbent Democratic governor Bruce King by 50% to 40%. He cut the 10% annual growth in the budget by using his gubernatorial veto on half of bills in the first six months.

He sought re-election in 1998, winning by 55% to 45%. In his second term, he concentrated on the issue of school voucher reforms, as well as campaigning for marijuana decriminalization. During his tenure as governor, he adhered strictly to an anti-tax, anti-bureaucracy program, and set state and national records for his use of veto powers: more than the other 49 contemporary governors put together. Term-limited, Johnson retired from politics at the end of his second term.

In 2009, he founded the Our America Initiative, a 501(c)(4) political advocacy organization. Johnson has also been the subject of media speculation as a possible candidate for President of the United States in the 2012 election.