In the past few weeks, there has been increasing chatter about a possible "dark horse" candidate in 2012: former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton. Cue snickers, screams, and cheers: Bolton has an almost Palinesque pattern of support, being reviled by much of the left as a warmonger, and embraced by a number of conservatives for his hardline stance on Iran. Conservative publication The Daily Caller has helped this Bolton-for-president story along. Here's a sample of the reaction--both humorous and serious, liberal and conservative--as Bolton admits that he is "thinking about it."

• 'Oh God, Run for Cover,' writes Gawker's Jim Newell, in a response neatly encapsulating the sentiments of the left-leaning blogosphere. Over at Wonkette, the political humor site where Newell previously worked, Riley Waggaman gets in a few "bomb Iran 'whenever'" jokes while simultaneously making sure to variously call Daily Caller staff--only peripherally related to this story--"bow-tie hobbits" or "Tucker Carlson's gnome-slaves."

• 'To My Surprise, He Does Sound Serious,' writes Allahpundit at conservative Hot Air. " Maybe the response to the previous trial balloon was so enthusiastic that he figured it's worth floating a bigger one?" Earlier, Allahpundit had commented that "Where a neoconservative dark horse candidacy might become important (whether it's Bolton or Liz Cheney or someone else) is if Afghanistan deteriorates further and the right starts to split on whether to stay or go."

• But Even Bush Wouldn't Support Him, notes liberal Think Progress's Ben Armbruster, pointing to a New York Times story in which Bolton's former employer said he didn't "consider Bolton credible" and felt he had "spent political capital for him" in order to bring the unpopular Bolton aboard while getting little in return.
  

• Well, We Like the Idea  Rich Lowry at National Review calls Bolton "our favorite dark-horse candidate for president." He notes that Bolton's "rationale" is that, in his words, "we just don't have enough discussion on national security." Bolton also has no illusions about his chances of success "as someone who hasn't run for elective office before."

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Heather Horn