Face the Nation: John McCain, Haley Barbour and Martin O'Malley
This Sunday's Guests are Senator John McCain, Governor Haley Barbour, Republican of Mississippi and Governor Martin O'Malley, Democrat of Maryland.
As Texas Governor Rick Perry appears to be losing steam, and most Republican party activists still seem unhappy with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and the rest of the field, the cries for more Republican presidential candidates are louder than ever.
Enter New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The first term Republican has made his reputation on blunt talk and decisive action - taking on teachers and unions to cut the state's budget. But he's adamantly said he's not running. Yet, a major speech this week at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library only fueled the calls for Christie to run and now he's signaling that the door to a run may not be fully closed.
At that speech Christie attacked the current occupant of the White House as weak, calling him "a bystander in the Oval Office," but when Christie himself heard an impassioned plea from an audience member to enter the race, he didn't budge, but he didn't deny he was considering. The reason to run he said, "has to reside inside me," he said.
If he does get in, can Christie's record match up to the myth? Could his record on gun control, abortion and energy policy - more moderate as the Governor of a relatively blue New Jersey than the rest of the Republican field, satisfy the conservative base? How will a Governor who supports a ban on assault weapons and opposes off-shore oil drilling in his state play to the hard core conservatives who make up most of the caucus goers in the first in the nation Iowa and the voters in early primary state South Carolina?
But as the political season heats up, world events have not slowed down. Senator John McCain is just back from Libya where the US-backed rebels continue to battle the remnants of the Gaddafi regime and Gaddafi himself appears to be in hiding. As hotspots of Libya and Syria continue to grab headlines, the United States has continues its push against al Qaeda, with the killing of terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, the mastermind behind many of the recent plots against the homeland.
The latest on the Republican presidential field: Can one of them beat the President? Is time running out for Christie, or any other candidate to get in? Can the Republican party rally around the current field? Politics and the latest from Libya and on the war on terrorism will be among the issues discussed as Senator John McCain,then Republican Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour and Democrat Governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley join Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation.
