While many presidential candidates head to the convention podium with an Ivy League degree in their back pockets, a majority of Republican vice presidential candidates in the last 24 years have come with a common qualification on their resumes.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney‘s selection of Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate continued a trend of Republican vice presidential candidates with resumes boasting former and, now with Ryan, current membership, in the Republican Study Committee (RSC).

Six of the last seven presidential elections, and four of the last five tickets have featured RSC vice presidential candidates — former Vice President Dan Quayle (1988 and 1992), former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp (1996), former Vice President Dick Cheney (2000 and 2004), and now Ryan (2012).

After a good February for each of them, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum head into Super Tuesday essentially tied in The Washington Times/JZ Analytics’ poll of Republican primary voters nationwide, which also found little appetite for the GOP to wait until a convention to settle matters.

Only slightly more than a quarter of voters said they want to see a brokered convention, while nearly twice that many said they are satisfied with the choices presented to them this year.

There is no magic bullet candidate that could change the face of the race: Even given new choices such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a plurality of voters still sticks with Mr. Romney...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Wednesday that she won't enter the 2012 presidential race, making it all but certain that the current crop of GOP candidates has been set.

In a letter to her supporters, the 2008 vice presidential nominee and Fox News contributor said her decision was based on a "review of what common sense conservatives and independents have accomplished, especially over the last year."

"I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office -- from the nation's governors to congressional seats and the presidency," she said.

"I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for president where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables," she said.

The field is full, though perhaps not complete, but if any other candidates are thinking of joining the Republican presidential race, they better move quick.

That's the thinking from the sidelines, where strategists, former candidates or could-have-been contenders are offering their take on the 2012 race.

"It's getting a little late in the day. If they don't act within the next couple of weeks, just pragmatically it's tough," said former Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., who has often been on short-lists as presidential or vice presidential material...

While former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney remains the preferred 2012 Republican presidential nominee, three rivals are close behind -- including two who haven’t announced they are running.

In a Fox News poll released Wednesday, Romney received the backing of 18 percent of GOP primary voters. He’s followed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 13 percent, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann at 11 percent and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at 10 percent. Perry and Giuliani have not declared their candidacies.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, also undeclared, is now in single digits at 8 percent support, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul garners the support of 7 percent...

A new poll in Iowa following the departures of Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump as potential Republican presidential candidates shows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leading in Iowa among Republican voters.

The Public Policy Polling institute survey has businessman Herman Cain and former governor Sarah Palin tied for second at 15 percent, with Romney leading the race at 21 percent when Republican and independents who lean Republican are measured.

Newt Gingrich is 4th with 12%, Michele Bachmann 5th with 11%, Tim Pawlenty 6th with 10%, and Ron Paul 7th with 8%. All other candidates were shown at 0 or 1%...

More companies have joined Papa Johns, Huggies and Vanguard in dropping ads from the liberal, pro-abortion blog Wonkette after it ran a crass post mocking Sarah Palin and her son Trig, who has Down Syndrome.

The web site ran what was supposedly a satirical piece criticizing Palin for her supposed use of Trig as a “political prop” during the 2008 presidential election, when Palin, the pro-life former Alaska governor, was the Republican vice-presidential candidate. The Wonkette post called Trig “retarded” and “somewhat alive” and claimed Trig was not the child of Todd and Sarah Palin.

The post prompted a conservative backlash on Twitter, with hundreds of people writing to companies that had engaged in advertising on the popular blog site. In addition to the three that quickly dropped their ads, several others have followed suit. Below are the companies and the tweets they sent out announcing their ads will no longer appear on Wonkette.

Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are tied for first place among likely 2012 GOP primary voters, according to a sampling of recent polls, but the betting in the political community is that Mr. Romney almost surely will run and Mr. Huckabee will not.

A multimillionaire businessman and former Massachusetts governor who sought the GOP nomination in 2008, Mr. Romney is free to pursue the 2012 race full time.

Mr. Huckabee, also a former governor from Arkansas, would have to give up his Fox News Channel TV show and the income that comes with it...

WOODBURY, N.Y. (AP) — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said on Thursday that President Obama‘s budget proposal does not do enough to cut the national deficit.

Mrs. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, spoke before a gathering of 1,000 business and civic leaders on New York’s Long Island.

Mrs. Palin said Mr. Obama‘s budget “doesn’t even make a dent” in the deficit. “It’s not nearly enough,” she added...

The wave of national soul-searching about the level of political vitriol and how it might have played a part in Saturday's shootings in Tucson, Ariz., now appears to be ebbing.

Following the shooting, which left six people dead and apparently targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) of Arizona, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik suggested that "vitriol ... about tearing down the government" might have played a part. Rep. Robert Brady (D) of Pennsylvania has followed that lead, promising a bill that would outlaw threatening language against lawmakers.

But emerging information about primary suspect Jared Loughner suggests that he was motivated not by a climate of hate but rather by his own troubled mind and a personal vendetta against Congresswoman Giffords, who was injured in the attack. The investigation has not concluded, and more information could come to light.