In March of 1984, then President Ronald Reagan wowed the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in part, by sprinkling some of his famously deft humor into his remarks.

"Yes, we have a trade deficit, but this isn't entirely new-the United States had a merchandise trade deficit in almost all of the years between 1790 and 1875," Reagan said. "I remember them well."

The 73-year-old president paused to allow the laughter to permeate the room before going in for the kill. "Of course, I was only a boy at the time," he added with impeccable comedic timing.

Recapturing Reagan's essence has long been the Holy Grail for Republican presidential hopefuls who have wasted few opportunities to invoke his memory. But for many prospective 2012 GOP candidates, the ability to reproduce Reagan's charming jocularity does not appear to come as easily as it did to their common political idol. Indeed, they spend more time jabbing President Obama than they do poking fun at themselves.

But for Reagan, the trade deficit joke was only one in a long line of self-deprecating jokes about his age that he regularly employed during his presidency, and it had two qualities in its favor. First and foremost, the remark was actually funny, which nearly any amateur joke-teller would agree is the most important attribute to a comedic endeavor.

But secondly, the comment came at his own expense and was an example of Reagan's ability to endear himself to crowds by demonstrating his undeniable self-confidence.

"He would more often make sport of himself than he would his political opponents," Craig Shirley, author of two acclaimed Reagan histories, said of the former president.

Shirley noted that Reagan was not averse to targeting his political adversaries in his jokes but that he largely would do so in a well-mannered way. The same 1984 CPAC speech provides an example of how Reagan accomplished the difficult balancing act of avoiding meanness and still managing to show off his sharp wit at his opponents' expense.

"The critics were wrong on inflation, wrong on interest rates, wrong on the recovery, and I believe they'll be wrong on the deficit, too, if the Congress will get spending under control," Reagan said. "If optimism were a national disease, they'd be immune for life."

At this year's CPAC conference, several of the current prospective GOP presidential candidates who spoke at the event tried their comedic hands in front of the friendly crowd, and although the response to their material was often positive, it was rarely overwhelming.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, for example, lit into Obama on the economy, but the multimillionaire simultaneously mocked the president for his both liberal and foodie ways.

After noting that Obama said the United States could be worse off than it is with unemployment hovering just under 10 percent, Romney joked, "It could be worse? This is the leader of the Free World's answer to the greatest job loss since the Great Depression? What's next? Let them eat cake?"

He added, "Oh, excuse me. Organic cake."

And jabbing the president for sounding notes of change again in this year's State of the Union, Romney said, "He sounded like he was going to dig up the first lady's organic garden to put in a Bob's Big Boy."

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's comedic repertoire also came across as a work in progress.

"Now I'm not one who questions the president's birth certificate and the existence of his birth certificate, but when you listen to his policies, don't you at least wonder what planet he's from?" Pawlenty asked, generating some laughter but more than a few uncomfortable glances.

Though Pawlenty has often been described as someone who is more charismatic and relatable to voters in small settings than in large ballrooms, Craig Shirley said that there were risks to politicians who feel compelled to leave their audiences in stiches.

"I think people should be what they are and not try to be what they aren't," Shirley said. "If you don't have that style or that wit or that presence, then you shouldn't try to fake it because I think people see right through it -- reporters and voters."

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels did critique the current administration during his CPAC speech, but he trained most of his dry humor on himself.

He opened his speech by joking that when presented with an invitation to speak at this year's gathering, his first reaction was, "Who canceled?"

He began another recent speech in the Beltway about fiscal issues by joking about cheap he is.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is another prospective GOP candidate who frequently turns to humor in her big speeches, and she frequently hits the mark with her adoring supporters.

But unlike in Reagan's case, Palin is not often eager to poke fun at herself, and her jokes that may reflect the norms of modern society to some can seem artless for a would-be White House hopeful to others.

"His theme last night of the State of the Union was the WTF-you know, winning the future," Palin said on Fox News after President Obama's State of the Union address last month. "And I thought, OK, that acronym-spot on! There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech."

Former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who served in both of Reagan's administrations as Undersecretary of Education and as a domestic policy adviser, said that his former boss was well aware of the political utility of his congeniality.

"Reagan knew how to sell the conservative message in a way that made it relatively easy on the ears of the listener, and his great Irish personality drew people to him, even in cases where they often disagreed with him," Bauer said. "I think a lot of people could imagine and want to have Ronald Reagan over to their house for a cookout and feel that it wouldn't be awkward. They wouldn't have to put out any facade, and they could pretty much be themselves. And I think for a lot of people in public life today, it's hard for most Americans to imagine them having a normal conversation."

Asked if any of the potential Republican contenders had demonstrated signs of the way that Reagan could disarm his opponents with a joke, Bauer came up empty.

"I think [Indiana Rep.] Mike Pence was very close to that, and as we know, he has taken himself out of consideration," he said. "I think as far as the rest of the field, any one of which I could support against the current incumbent -- not meaning to insult any of them -- I don't think any of them quite have that charm, which Ronald Reagan possessed at a great surplus."

Of course, the mothers, spouses, and close friends of members of the prospective GOP field might well disagree with Bauer's assessment. And former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is one potential candidate who is almost universally acknowledged to be deft with a one-liner and is frequently seen as affable, even to his detractors.

Still, a Huckabee candidacy is still far from reality, and sources close to his operative think he's poised not to run, though his recent comments suggest the opposite.

As for the rest of the field, it may be that the current crop of contenders just misses the mark on one of Reagan's trademark quality.

Up-and-coming Republicans, however, may possess it.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, for examples, riffs on the Democratic lawmakers in his state and his own tough-guy dealings with them in no short supply. He often tells a story from early 2010 about the Democrats' threat to shut down the government over a disagreement about the budget and taxes.

After receiving the threat about a shutdown, Christie told the lawmakers not to sweat it, and that rather than waiting it out, he would go back to the governor's residence, "open a beer, I'm going to order a pizza, and I'm going to watch the Mets." He continued, "When you decide to reopen the government, give me a call, and I'll come back." He said he wouldn't sleep on a cot the way former Democrat Jon Corzine did as governor when he faced the same threat.

"Take a look at me," the plump Christie joked. "You think I'm sleeping on a cot? Not happening."

Indiana Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels today blasted the Democratic lawmakers who fled the Hoosier State this week in order to deny a quorum and delay a vote on an anti-union bill.

"The House Democrats have shown a complete contempt for the democratic process," he said in a briefing this afternoon. "The way that works-as we all learned in grade school-is that if you seek public office, you come, do your duty, you argue, you debate, you amend if you can, you vote ‘no' if you feel you should."

He added, "You don't walk off the job, take your public paycheck with you, and attempt to bring the whole process to a screeching halt. You know, if they persist, the Democratic Party of Indiana will need a rebranding effort because this is as anti-democratic as behavior can be."

His strong words came on the heels of a series of reports that suggested he was walking away from a fight, as he had said that the bill be stricken from consideration this year and taken up later.

On Tuesday, after reports surfaced that a group of Democratic House members had left for Illinois and Kentucky, Daniels held a briefing in which he commended the activists protesting the bill for exercising their constitutional rights. An initial press report suggested that Daniels was instead saluting the Democratic lawmakers who left the state. Subsequently, an audio of the press briefing was released making it clear Daniel's was referring to the protestors, not the Democratic lawmakers.

Daniels spokeswoman Jane Jankowski sought to further dispel any confusion issuing a statement later in the day explaining that when Daniels said on Tuesday, "the activities of today are perfectly legitimate part of the process" and "Even the smallest minority - and that's what we've heard from the last couple of days - has every right to express the strength of its views and I salute those who do," he was referring to protesters.

Daniels further clarified the comments in today's press conference, calling it a "huge distinction."

Asked about conservatives who think he hasn't been tough enough on this issue, Daniels shot back emphatically, "They don't understand the situation at all."

He continued, "We are in pursuit of an important reform agenda that I think these critics, whoever they are, would support vigorously. It has been seriously endangered by this activity that we're seeking to bring to an end now."

He was also pressed on whether his reactions have implications on his potential presidential run in 2012, but scolded people who only think in political terms. Instead, he used the question as an opportunity to lay out his overall agenda.

"I'd probably be pursuing a very different course," he said if he were acting with the presidential race in mind.

Nevertheless, the script of today's press conference in Indiana was sent to both the governor's regular press list and a national list, as well.

"I don't know how we'll proceed," he said, but "I can tell you what won't happen: We will not be bullied or blackmailed out of pursuing the agenda we laid in front of the people of Indiana. That agenda is going to get voted on."

He vowed to keep the legislature in until the end of the year if necessary but didn't expect it would be.

"I've got all year, and I don't melt," he said.

A Gallup poll conducted nationally and released on Wednesday showed a statistical three-way tie for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination and provided further evidence of an unsettled field with plenty of opportunities for lesser-known candidates to make inroads before the voting begins next year.

In the poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, which was conducted Feb. 18 through Feb. 20, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee led the pack with 18 percent of respondents saying they would be most likely to support him for the Republican nomination.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin each finished at 16 percent, which was within the margin of error (+/- 3 percent) of Huckabee's first-place finish.

No prospective Republican candidate has officially announced a campaign as of yet.

While Huckabee's impressive showing marks a six percent jump in his support from a Gallup poll taken last September, national surveys are notoriously unreliable tools to predict the outcome of presidential nominating contests-especially since the first votes will not be tallied until just under a year from now.

Throughout most of 2007, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani enjoyed a substantial lead in national polls over his Republican rivals, only to see that support collapse as the voting began in early caucuses and primaries.

Rounding out the top six slots of the new Gallup poll were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (9 percent), Texas Rep. Ron Paul (5 percent), and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann (4 percent).

Other viable prospective candidates who are typically mentioned as top-tier contenders, including former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, all polled in the low single-digits.

The Gallup poll did not find large differences between various subsets of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, though Huckabee performed particularly well among conservatives, churchgoers, and southerners.

Herman Cain may be a longshot Republican presidential hopeful, but the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza showed on Tuesday night that he is a savvy enough politician to take advantage of some free publicity from a far more well-known potential GOP contender.

When former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin posted to her Facebook page and her Twitter feed a link to a column that Cain had penned for Investor's Business Daily, the Atlanta businessman responded within minutes to underscore the high-profile exposure by thanking Palin over Twitter and adding an additional link to his piece for anyone who had missed it.

Cain's weekly commentary that Palin publicized was titled "Merely Taking Positions Is Not Leadership" and began with a jab at the press -- a device that Palin is no stranger to employing in her own public comments.

"All the attempts by the media to make stories out of the budget battles going on in Washington, D.C., will not change the bottom line of how it will end up, no matter how many ways they try to create a story," Cain wrote. "Namely, the taxpayers will get stuck with more debt and more taxes again."

Cain went on to chastise President Obama's proposed budget while praising the leadership of Republican governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Snyder of Michigan, who are locked in their own budget battles.

"Being in a leadership position without leading is called position-ship," Cain wrote. "And when you truly lead, you will be criticized because working on the right problems, setting the right priorities, surrounding yourself with the right people and developing the right plans will not make everybody happy."

Cain has formed a presidential exploratory committee and has kept a heavy schedule of public events in early voting states, while Palin and other prospective GOP contenders wait to make their decisions about whether to run.

Though Cain has generated some genuine buzz among grassroots conservatives in Iowa, his miniscule name recognition and lack of a high-profile political background has left him out of most of the early presidential chatter.

Palin's effort to highlight his work, though a minor gesture, is nonetheless notable in that the former Alaska governor is well aware of the amount of attention her every online utterance is capable of generating.

Palin has a long history of backing the kinds of longshot candidates in Republican primaries that she herself once was during the early stages of her lieutenant governor and gubernatorial campaigns in Alaska.

Additionally, Palin has for years been a consistent critic of what she has derided as the traditional GOP establishment process of preselecting candidates before voters have their say.

While clearly not an endorsement of Cain, Palin's promotion of his column served as an early reminder that if she were to decide not to seek the Republican nomination herself, her highly coveted endorsement would be at least as likely to be awarded to an underdog candidate who is popular among the grassroots as it would to a better known contender with a wealth of resources at his disposal.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels may steal some of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's thunder in the labor standoff between Republicans and Democrats, now that reports in the state show that some Indiana Democratic lawmakers have fled the state to avoid a vote on an anti-union bill.

Like Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers who bolted the Badger State for refuge in Illinois over budget disagreements, the Indiana troop headed to Illinois, and possibly Kentucky, according to the Indianapolis Star. The missing Democrats prevented a quorum this afternoon at 2 p.m. that prevented votes on legislation, and the Star reported that they had to head to a state with a Democratic governor in order to avoid being rounded up by state troopers and escorted back to work.

Daniels, who is eyeing a presidential bid in 2012, said Tuesday afternoon in the Statehouse that he would not send Indiana state troopers after the Democratic lawmakers to return them to the state. His take is that Democrats have a duty to their constituents and should show back up for work.

Ohio, which recently elected a Republican governor, John Kasich, is undergoing a similar standoff, but Ohio Democratic legislators are currently powerless and a walkout would not stall legislation.

Ohio Democratic Party chair Chris Redfern issued a statement on Tuesday blasting Ohio Republican lawmakers for shutting protesters out of the State Capitol who had come to Columbus to protest a bill that would essentially end collective bargaining for public employees.

"To make them stand in the freezing cold and snow today is an unfathomable and unprecedented step," Redfern said. "Thousands and thousands of people were allowed in the Statehouse last week to voice their opposition to Senate Bill 5, and they must be let in today. I call on John Kasich to immediately instruct the Highway Patrol to open the Statehouse and let these people in."

Redfern pointed out that only 750 protesters have been allowed into the Statehouse today over the collective bargaining dispute, whereas 3,800 were allowed in the week before.

Kasich has been mentioned as a potential running mate to the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, and Walker is often named as a rising star in the party.

After a collective reaction to the White House's handling of the revolution in Egypt that was for the most part muted and sometimes deferential to President Obama, Republicans appear increasingly eager to take a tougher line when it comes to the administration's handling of the uprising in Libya.

Thus far, Obama's public remarks on the situation have been confined to a statement released on Friday about the uprisings in Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen, which condemned the use of violence at the hands of governments and reaffirmed the universal right to peaceably assemble.

During an appearance in Cleveland on Tuesday, Obama kept his comments focused on the economy and did not mention the events in North Africa, which appear to threaten the regime of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi, who has ruled that country since 1969.

On Monday, Senators Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) released a joint statement calling on Obama to take a firmer public line.

"The United States should not remain silent in the face of Gadhafi's egregious violations of human rights," the Republican senators wrote. "We urge the President to speak out clearly in support of the Libyan people in their struggle against the Gadhafi dictatorship."

Unlike its relationship with the pro-American regime that was helmed by ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the United States has a long history of open conflict with Gadhafi, which came to its zenith during U.S. airstrikes on Libya in 1986, following the bombing of a Berlin nightclub that was frequented by U.S. soldiers.

In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday morning, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been a vocal and consistent critic of Obama's foreign policy, escalated his previous suggestions that Obama has coddled hostile regimes like Libya.

"There's almost a conspiracy of silence if it's an anti-American government," Gingrich said. "Libya and Iran - to take those two examples - are clearly active opponents of the United States, and finding a way to replace them would be enormously to our advantage, and the people of both countries are prepared to risk their lives. But they get almost no support from either the United States or any serious interest in the United Nations Security Council."

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), another prospective GOP presidential hopeful, was even harsher in her accusations that the White House was carrying out a dangerously feckless foreign policy.

"Our Peace Prize-winning president is very busy bowing these days to kings. He is bending down to dictators, and he is brown-nosing the elites that are in Europe, and he's babying the jihadists who are following Sharia-compliant terrorism," Bachmann said at a Tea Party event in South Carolina over the weekend, according to the Spartanburg Herald Journal. "And he's accomplishing something nobody thought even possible: He's making Jimmy Carter look like a Rambo tough guy."

But it isn't just 2012 hopefuls with penchants for flame-throwing who have been urging the president to pivot toward a tougher line as events in Libya take center stage in the broader Middle Eastern uproar.

On Tuesday, the influential Wall Street Journal editorial board argued for a warning of military strikes on Libya's airfields if the government continued to attack citizens who were gathered in the streets.

"Arming the demonstrators also cannot be ruled out," the Journal wrote. "It is hard to believe, but the Obama Administration seemed more eager to topple Egypt's Hosni Mubarak than it has Moammar Gadhafi, who has more American blood on his hands than anyone living other than Osama bin Laden."

Obama and Vice President Biden are scheduled to meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday afternoon.

In the latest foreign crisis to develop on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that Obama was notified at 4:42 a.m. this morning that four American hostages were killed by Somali pirates and that the president had previously authorized the use of force in the event that the hostages' lives appeared to have been in imminent danger.

Prominent Republicans quickly took to Twitter to urge Obama to strike back at the Somali pirates.

Former George W. Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer reflected the sentiments of many when he tweeted, "4 Americans killed by pirates. This is the 3:00am call that Hillary warned about. If O doesn't want more killed, he must strike back."

South Dakota Sen. John Thune announced in a statement today that he will not seek the presidency in 2012.

The Republican said in a statement posted to his Facebook page that he's received encouragement but "at this time, I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America's future here in the trenches of the United States Senate."

"I want to thank those who have encouraged us and prayed for us during the past several months. We are forever grateful for all the support," he added.

Thune began flirting with a presidential bid last year in part because he received so much encouragement to run, and because the rest of the developing Republican 2012 field appeared weak.

He said he would announce his plans by the end of February, but he had seemed torn by the decision. He has not trekked into the early nominating states as other potential candidates have.

Thune's decision will allow him, however, to move up in the Senate. Now that minority whip Jon Kyl, the second-ranking Republican in leadership, has announced he will not seek another term in 2012, Thune's decision means he likely will seek the whip position. Thune is ranked fourth in the leadership structure as chair of the Republican Policy Committee.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chair, already has made clear his intention to seek the whip slot after Kyl leaves.

Thune also may come under consideration to be the eventual Republican nominee's running mate next year.

Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China and former Utah governor, has a presidential campaign operation up and running and waiting for his return, even though he's not quite connected to it yet.

The group, Horizon PAC, just launched a website that reveals what is on the way from Huntsman's likely campaign. The message: a future of conservatism that is devoid of politics as usual.

A spokesman for the so-called campaign-in-waiting noted, "You won't see the same tired tropes and images that are the hallmark every other PAC website."

In fact, the front page of the website doesn't even have a photo. It's headlined: "Maybe Someday" and carries a series of flashing subtitles, including, "America can do so much better;" "What happened to actual, lasting solutions for problems?" "We'll find a new generation of conservative leaders;" and "America can flourish. Someday could be today."

There are just a few pages populated on the site that delve further into those ideas. The prose on the pages reflects a distaste for typical politicians and gridlock in Washington. No specific politicians or political offices are named.

In addition to the new website, the organization has hired both Al Shofe, a Minnesotan, as congressional liaison and Craig Engle, of the Arent Fox Political Law Group, as legal counsel.

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King announced an expanded list of speakers for a conservative conference he'll hold next month in Des Moines to underscore the nascent GOP nomination fight that will unfold in his state over the next year.

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint will keynote the Conservative Principles Conference on March 26, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is scheduled to participate as well. Now King has added Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Ambassador John Bolton and Herman Cain, all of whom are exploring the 2012 race for the White House.

The roster skews heavily to the most conservative potential hopefuls for the 2012 GOP nomination, and the event also will place heavy emphasis on tea party groups, showing the importance of conservative causes to GOP voters in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

According to a release about the event from the congressman's office, the conference is "designed to begin the process of linking all early states in the nomination process," and "King's intention is to coalesce the common conservative principles the eventual 2012 Republican presidential nominee must possess."

King's office noted that participants have been invited on the basis of their conservative credentials, and more panelists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Monday dismissed as "laughable" and "absurd" a story suggesting he would be driven to run for president over a longstanding feud with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney that dates back to the 2008 campaign.

Huckabee blasted the article published by Politico, which ran with the headline "Huckabee throws a Mitt fit" and advanced the theory that the antagonism between the 2008 rivals for the GOP nomination would leave Huckabee "especially tempted" to take another shot at bringing down Romney in 2012.

"I found that laughable," Huckabee said on a conference call with reporters. "My gosh, if a person's ever been even near a presidential campaign, you don't make decisions that pull you, your family, your friends, all of the supporters you've ever had and ever hope to have into the vortex of something like this over some personal issue. That's absurd. It's beyond absurd."

Huckabee is set to embark on another book tour this month to promote his latest tome, A Simple Government: Twelve Things We Really Need From Washington (And A Trillion That We Don't!). The winner of the 2008 GOP Iowa caucuses is scheduled to make six stops in the nation's first voting state and will also head to South Carolina-a state that would likely prove critical to him in the 2012 campaign-for five stops early next month.

"I'm trying to make a methodical and thoughtful decision," Huckabee said of his deliberations on running for president. "I wouldn't take Iowa for granted because one thing I know about the voters of Iowa [is] you don't take them for granted. In fact, most of them aren't going to tell you for sure that they're going to vote for you until the week before the caucuses."

As he continues to face questions about whether he can mount an effective campaign structure if he delays his decision until late summer, as he has said that he would, Huckabee noted that most Americans are not yet thinking about the 2012 campaign.

"The more months that you have that operation, the more expensive it is to operate it, and the more fatigued your team is, depending on how many months they have to go," Huckabee added.

Huckabee lavished praise on two of his potential rivals for the nomination, saying that Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been "terrific" in his current job and has skill sets that could be "tremendous" for a president.

Huckabee said that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour had the "smartest political mind in America today" and added that Barbour was a "sheer genius of political strategy."

Huckabee repeated his criticism of the media and presidential debate moderators for focusing too much on process-related questions at the expense of policy disagreements in 2008 but said that he "thoroughly enjoyed" being on the campaign trail.

"I loved the campaign," Huckabee said. "I enjoyed every moment that I was campaigning and talking to people on the trail. What I didn't enjoy was that so many of the issues were ignored."