Bolton and Johnson add their names to the list of long-shot GOP presidential hopefuls

The Ticket

With no clear GOP front-runner seizing the initiative, two more Republicans have signaled they might wage long-shot bids to win the party's 2012 presidential nomination.

Over the weekend, John Bolton, the mustachioed Fox News analyst who once served as George W. Bush's ambassador to the United Nations, hinted he's thinking about a 2012 run. "Yes, I am considering it," Bolton told conservative radio host Aaron Klein. "If I did run, and I haven't made a decision, I have never run for office one way or the other, so it would be a pretty big decision to do it."

Bolton, who does not register on any potential 2012 polls, says he's thinking about the race because nobody seems to be talking about foreign policy. Obama seems to view foreign policy as an "irritation, a distraction from what his real priorities are," Bolton said. "It's important to be able to take him on intellectually and at a policy level in a very direct way, and that's one of the things I'll be considering," he added.

Meanwhile, former New Mexico Gov. Gary E. Johnson has been down in Florida trying to gin up support for a 2012 bid. In addition to touting tax cuts and the usual GOP policy talking points, Johnson told the Miami Herald's Marc Caputo that he'll also talk about his efforts to legalize marijuana.

"I don't drink. I don't smoke pot. But I've drank and I've smoked pot," Johnson says. "The big difference between the two is that marijuana is a lot safer than alcohol."

Bolton and Johnson join an ever-growing list of Republicans mulling a longshot 2012 bid. That includes former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who said over the summer he was "being pulled" into the race, even though he barely registers on early 2012 primary polls; and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, a former member of GOP leadership who won a recent 2012 straw poll among social conservatives.

Other Republicans considering a bid include former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, South Dakota Sen. John Thune and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.

(Photo of Bolton by Jose Luis Magana/AP)