2008 Presidential Campaign Update #8

We're near the end of the second quarter of 2007 -- but still a full seven months from the first caucuses and primaries -- and we have 18 official entries, 10 Republicans and eight Democrats, in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes.

The Republicans are Representative Duncan Hunter of California, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Arizona Senator John McCain, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson (who also later served as the Secretary of Health and Human Services), Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, and former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.

The Democrats are former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, former North Carolina Senator and 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee John Edwards, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

Today, I also offer my updated presidential power ratings for both parties, in which I rank the current and prospective candidates in order of their likelihood to receive their respective party's presidential nomination. Of course, these rankings will fluctuate with time, as the fortunes of the candidates change, some drop out, and new ones emerge. Here's my latest installment:

Democrats:

1. Hillary Clinton

2. Barack Obama

3. John Edwards

4. Bill Richardson

5. Joe Biden

6. Chris Dodd

7. Al Gore

8. Wesley Clark

9. Dennis Kucinich

10. Mike Gravel

Republicans:

1. Rudy Giuliani

2. Fred Thompson

3. Mitt Romney

4. John McCain

5. Newt Gingrich

6. Mike Huckabee

7. Sam Brownback

8. Tommy Thompson

9. Duncan Hunter

10. Jim Gilmore

11. Ron Paul

12. Tom Tancredo

13. Chuck Hagel

14. George Pataki

15. Michael Bloomberg

Stay tuned for regular updates, with the next one coming around the second week in July.

Comments

[bret]

What a ridiculous ranking scheme. I mean, are you just parroting CNN? What's the point, they're already doing this.

There is simply no way on God's green earth that Giuliani is going to get the nod, none, zip. The only reason he sticks around is because people say "oh he's got tons of money, he must be a contender!" Please, give me a break.

[Terry Mitchell]

Bret, I don't take my cue from anyone. Any similarity of my rankings to those of CNN (or anybody else) is purely coincidental. I am an idependent thinker -- I call things as I see them. I also devote more coverage to the so-called "lesser candidates" than the large news services do. They mainly concentrate on the top three in each party.

Guiliani may indeed fail to get the nomination, but right now he's clearly the frontrunner. To deny it would be to stick one's head in the sand. You say he has no chance and then call me my ranking system ridiculous?

My ranking system is just a snapshot in time. It is different from what I had last month and will likely be different next month. It is not an attempt to predict who's going to win -- just the relative strength of the candidates at this point in time. If you can't understand that, then there's not much hope for you.