April 06, 2007
2008 Race Rankings: The Money Is In
The numbers are in, but there's plenty left to say. The Republican field is more than ever a team in search of a leader. John McCain's hoping for a reset. Mitt Romney has a second chance. The lesser-knowns -- Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter, to name two -- underwhelmed.
These rankings are ordered by likelihood of winning the Republican primary and are based on a number of factors, including organization, money, buzz and polling. Click here for Democratic rankings.
1. No One -- Last Ranking: --
If no one is running in front of you, how do you know you're running in the right direction? In all seriousness, when there's upwards of $20 million in Bush-Republican money that's unaccounted for, it's proof positive there is no front-runner yet, so why reward any of the candidates with the top slot?
2. Rudy Giuliani -- Last Ranking: 1
Teflon Rudy? Nope. When Fred Thompson's included in the Gallup poll, Giuliani's stratospheric numbers suddenly drop into the troposphere. (It's a few fathoms downward.) Bad press will hurt him. Maybe it would take an unusually large and brutal dollop, but even heroes are human. Giuliani's Iowa trip this week begins the campaign's heavy stress on his "supply side" credentials, and will morph into a strong defense of his governing record as NYC mayor. This is a direct challenge to Romney -- Rudy's first of the campaign. Economically obsessed business wonks (Steve Forbes -- now a Rudy endorser) can do well in Republican primaries because the party elite in early states is full of them.
3. John McCain -- Last Ranking: 2
Does McCain, with an unspinnably disappointing third-place fundraising finish, still merit a ranking higher than Romney? We're not that fickle. McCain is the only candidate to acknowledge and wrestle the albatross around his neck, which is Iraq, and his commitment to that issue has served as a convenient and fairly valid excuse for not attending too many fundraisers in March. To the extent that fundraising tracks with expectations, McCain has a problem. The dozens of major Bush donors recruited so carefully by John Weaver have not been able to convince their friends that McCain will win the nomination and is worth their doubling down... yet. The McCain camp has put the onus on getting these folks on board by the second quarter. Almanac Profile
4. Mitt Romney -- Last Ranking: 3
Several strong squeezes of the low-hanging fruit later, he has plenty of money to remain a top-tier contender through the fall. The focus on Rudy has been a blessing; the press and the political community only seem capable of trying to destroy (or scrutinize, to be fair) one Republican candidate at once. That Romney was able to raise so much in what has inarguably been a disastrous political quarter for him speaks highly of the relationships he's cultivated over these years. But remember, this was the easy money for him. Let's see if he can parlay this into a larger fundraising operation. (Of course, he could simply write the check.)
Continue reading the 2008 Race Rankings
Posted at 03:03 PM
Comments
Here is how phony gun trotting Romney is (from AP)..
Officials in the four states where Mitt Romney has lived say the Republican presidential contender, who calls himself a lifelong hunter, never took out a license.
Romney says that's because he has seldom hunted where he needed one.
Questions about his hunting activities trailed Romney this week after he remarked at a campaign stop that he has been a hunter nearly all his life. The next day, his campaign said Romney had been hunting only twice, once as a teenager in Idaho and again last year with GOP donors in Georgia....
"The report that I only hunted twice is incorrect," Romney said in a statement issued Friday. "I've hunted small game numerous times, as a young man and as an adult. I'm by no means a big game hunter. I'm more Jed Clampett than Teddy Roosevelt."
...His staff refused Friday to provide details about his hunting history, including whose gun he used, with whom he hunted and whether he hunted in Utah as a college student or as an adult. He does not own a firearm, despite claiming to earlier this year.
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Multiple-Choice Mitt is a joke.
Doug | 04.07.07 11:19 AM
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It seems that Mitt Romney is out to give everyone a surprise !!
His ranking has markedly improved to 4th since the past few weeks.
Sean Taylor | 04.09.07 08:23 AM
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is Romeny rising or is everyone esle fallen? With day 8 on gun gate how does that ranking won't last will it?
baystate watcher | 04.09.07 11:56 AM
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