On the opening day of the conservative lovefest CPAC, who would show up but Donald Trump. Trump attacked President Obama's leadership and said that the United States is "becoming a laughingstock" around the world.

I can’t resist but to suggest that the self-inflating loudmouth billionaire has now made CPAC the laughingstock of many Republican voters who may not be in the mood for yet another unqualified, preposterous gazillionaire toying with throwing his hat in the ring.

We’re a year out now, and candidates are starting to trickle in. A presidential debate with the Iowa GOP and Fox News will open the season on August 11, followed two days later by the GOP Straw Poll in Ames, Iowa. Although largely a beauty contest with no meaning for the 2012 presidential selection, the straw poll is an important fundraiser for the party and a “county fair” (the caucuses are the State Fair), where the media and voters get to look at, pinch, stroke, and evaluate the “beef” that wants to lead the party in November.