| Power Ranking | The Horse | | Momentum | The Tip Sheet |
 | Mitt Romney |  |  | Mitt met expectations, not an easy thing to do in take-no-prisoners politics, and won the Ames Straw Poll big. But everyone knows he was the only major candidate taking it seriously. Polling very well in Iowa and New Hampshire, but still dragging nationally. If he can't find a way to become known to the nation more for his policies than his religion, he has potential next January to bomb bigger than Daddy Day Camp. Yes, he's raised a lot of money, but he can't afford to keep spending more than $400 per vote, especially when those votes don't matter. (previous ranking: #3) |
 | Rudy Giuliani |  |  | Rudy skipped Iowa, which is probably an indication of his future fate there. But he still leads in the polls almost everywhere else and his no-show in Ames may not damage him as much as a poor showing certainly would have. It's time for America's Mayor to become comfortable with what he did do on 9/11 so he'll stop getting baited into claiming credit for things he didn't do on 9/11. His biggest asset is starting to reveal albatross potential. (previous ranking: #1) |
 | Fred Thompson |  | | Freddy T's flirtation with running served him well for months, but his fans are growing tired of waiting for him to ask their hand in marriage. He's waited so long that his real wife is getting more media attention than he is and he's had more campaign leadership shuffles than anyone in history who hasn't officially joined the campaign. It's time to put up or shut up, or he runs risk of arriving at the altar alone. (previous ranking: #2) |
 | Mike Huckabee |  | | The only person not surprised by Huckabee's showing in the straw poll is Huckabee himself. Finishing second, while only spending $58 per vote, is a terrific showing for someone the media has been considering an also-ran from Day One. Surely Giuliani's decision not to participate helped, but so have his stellar showings in the debates. If there is an argument to be made for so many debates so early, Huckabee is it. But he would be the only argument for so many debates so early. (And there is no argument, period, for having Chris Matthews or Keith Olbermann hosting debates no matter how early they are.) ( previous ranking: #5) |
 | John McCain |  | | Yes, McCain is still running … this time away from his stance on immigration reform. His switch on a key GOP issue seems too little too late to regain traction or track position. Even the rock thrown in the pond by Mike Gravel didn't sink to the bottom this fast. And when you lose the straw poll to Duncan Hunter you know that pain in your butt is a fork. (previous ranking: tied for #4) |
No comments:
Post a Comment