Romney details revolutionary new policy on Cuba

Filed Under Foreign Affairs, Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jan 27

One of the great things about a primary is the blatant pandering. Yesterday, Gingrich literally promised Florida voters the moon. Today, Romney is offering them Cuba. Granted, there is a good segment of Floridian voters who have made it absolutely clear that they don’t want Cuba through, you know, leaving Cuba and coming here. However, Romney figures they can have Cuba back all to themselves if his plan comes to fruition.

Romney’s ingenious policy? Wait for the Castro brothers to die. That’s literally the height of his creativity. Granted, this has been the policy of the United States since President Castro kicked out our sugar plantations and fruit companies for essentially using the islands rural populace as slave labor, but it’s bound to work eventually! Romney went on to claim that Obama’s policy, which he dubbed appeasement, of letting Cubans visit their relatives in Cuba and send them money for food has, somehow, helped President Raul Castro stay in power.
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2012 Power Rankings: January 24, 2012

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jan 24

Welcome to the latest edition of PoliticalDerby.com's 2012 Power Rankings, the original tracking service of the race for the White House. The rankings are updated as circumstances warrant and are compiled by our Editors using wire reports, polls, campaign staffer scuttlebutt and confidential tips. The rankings may not be reprinted or quoted in any form without attribution to PoliticalDerby.com.




















 The GOP Horses 




Power Ranking
The Horse
Momentum
The Tip Sheet




Newt

  Gingrich




Thus   far, debates are the biggest story       of this primary cycle. They turned Rick Perry from a front runner   to a     bumbling fool and lifted Newt from has-been to front runner. An       interesting exercise in physics would be comparing the size of   Newt's head       from the first debate to the most recent. If he wins the   nomination, he       should give John King any job in the administration he wants. 






Mitt

  Romney




Not releasing his tax returns before South Carolina  - or simply  having a better answer to the question - may have been the biggest  blunder since Gerry Ford declared "There is no Soviet domination in  Eastern Europe, and there will never be under a Ford administration.” Everyone  outside of the Gingrich family still believe that Romney remains better  positioned for a long 50-state campaign, but the inevitability label is  shredded.




Rick

  Santorum


Leading up to South Carolina, Santorum was the Tim Tebow of the GOP  race. He exceeded expectations in his first contest, got evangelicals excited  about his chances, and was promptly crushed by a pretty boy from New England. He  did beat Ron Paul in South Carolina and leads him in Florida, but Paul  undoubtedly has a better plan and structure to win delegates moving forward. If  he believes the nominee should be an ABR, is it time to step aside and endorse  Newt?





Ron

  Paul



His campaign to win the nomination is effectively over. Moving on, his  objective is pile up delegates and to promote his agenda at the GOP convention.  Paul has been completely shortchanged in debate speaking time, though even he  admitted his speaking style for said debates isn't exactly flattering. Some think he's a  Kingmaker, but many Paul supporters say it's the good doctor or nothing.

2012 Power Rankings: January 5, 2012

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jan 6

1. Mitt Romney – Four years ago, Mitt Romney spent millions, hired 50 staffers and bought a bucket of hair gel. This earned him 25% of the vote in the Iowa Caucus, finishing second. This year, Romney spent less money, had a vastly reduced staff, and ditched the hair gel, which got him 25% of the vote and the victor’s crown. Here’s a man who knows how to cut the excess and come out on top! Romney did well because he beat expectations, the polar opposite of what happened there in 2008.

2. Rick Santorum – Who says hard work doesn’t pay off? By raising barns, going to the general store, picking corn (pay attention Huntsman), and walking barefoot across every dirt road in sight, Rick Santorum came within eight votes of a stunning victory in Iowa. It is safe to say that when the last round of Anybody But Romney Musical Chairs ended, Ricky slid right into the last chair with Ron Paul landing on his lap a half second behind. Moving Santorum into the second position was a difficult decision, based largely on Iowa. But for at least one week, he’s Romney’s top challenger.

3. Ron Paul – So close, yet so far for Ron Paul. He did break 20%, but the vaunted get out the vote operation blew a tire in the home stretch, dropping from a lead in the polls just days before the caucus to a mildly disappointing third place. He slips to third in the Power Rankings, and if he can’t find a way to finish a respectable second to the Romney juggernaut in New Hampshire, well, let’s just say it’s Live Free or Die for Dr. Paul.
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2012 Power Rankings: December 30, 2011

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Dec 31

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2012 Power Rankings: December 16, 2011

By Scott A. Robinson, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Dec 16

1. Newt Gingrich: As Rick Perry and Herman Cain did before him, Gingrich seems to have peaked, driven by the additional focus on his past, reminding people of some of his controversial, if not anti-conservative positions. The master debater does seem to have a rebuttal for every position-based attack thrown his way because when you’ve spent 30 years in Congress, odds are good you’ve voted on both sides of many issues. However, if we wake up one morning to find Newt Gingrich and Howard Stern sitting on a couch discussing who’s got talent, all bets are off.

2. Mitt Romney: Is Romney a liberal who is trying to win the GOP nomination as a conservative or is he a conservative who had to run as a liberal to have a chance at governing a liberal state? This is at the core Republicans’ struggle with Romney. But the thing Romney does well, other than picking hair gel, is exude the confidence and air of a leader that makes Americans feel comfortable with him.

3. Ron Paul: Despite sitting in the third position, Dr. Paul remains several lengths behind the leaders. They say slow and steady wins the race, but when you are three laps behind nearing the final turn you’ll never catch up. Additionally, the preponderance of debates this cycle putting Paul on television more often has brought far more memories of Richard M. Nixon versus John F. Kennedy than Paul can withstand.

4. Rick Perry: During the Iowa debate, Perry agreed with the moderator that he was not a good debater. Despite trying to acknowledge his faults, this is no small fault. It’s like saying, “I’m not very smart and I make poor decisions underpressure, but you should make me commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military.”

5. Michelle Bachmann: If Bachmann would have been as assertive, direct, concise, and clear in earlier debates as she was last night, she might still be a top two candidate in Iowa, as she was in September. Word is, she will next try to garner some of what would have been the Sarah Palin vote by mixing in some “you betchas” next time.

6. Rick Santorum: The candidate who is acknowledged to have spent the most time in Iowa is likely to finish sixth out of seven candidates. If you can’t win a primary election when you’ve visited every county in a small, early primary state, you might want to reconsider and run for HOA President.

7. Jon Huntsman: The second choice behind Romney to fix the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Huntsman was reportedly rather bitter. So how will he react when he is the fifth or sixth choice after Romney in the Republican primaries? Maybe he’ll pack up and move back to China.

2012 Power Rankings: December 5, 2011

By Scott A. Robinson, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Dec 5

The GOP Horses

Power Ranking	The Horse	Momentum	The Tip Sheet
	Newt Gingrich		Despite being more chameleon than Newt, Gingrich is leading in Iowa, gaining ground in New Hampshire and running with confidence. Apparently all past indiscretions have suddenly been forgotten as the master debater is the latest to surge to the top. Is Newt really what the country wants or is timing merely on his side?
	Mitt Romney		If Newt is a chameleon, Romney is a changeling. When the button-up candidate from four years ago is now rarely seen in public with his ideally knotted tie or trademark perfect hair, what can you believe in? Now, for the first time since 2009, Mitt is staring at another horse’s backside. He still has more money and a better ground organization, but if Newt wins Iowa and pulls a stunner in New Hampshire, it is game over.
	Empty Horse		This is quickly becoming the two-man race long predicted. How many jockeys can fall off? Will Fred Thompson suddenly announce he is running again? Can Ann Coulter’s deepest desire be fulfilled by Chris Christie suddenly changing his mind?
	Ron Paul		Paul has polled in the neighborhood of 8-10 percent since he ran against George Washington. Can Paul win Iowa and see his standing in New Hampshire improve as a result? Anything is possible. Can he win the nomination? Well, almost anything is possible.
	Rick Perry		The Texas governor looks more comfortable now that he’s trailing and carrying zero expectations. If he’d run this way early on and dropped the arrogant swagger, he might not be stuck in the mud. Then again, if he could have come prepared and caffeinated to even one debate he would have had a chance.
	Michele Bachmann		The Congresswoman from Minnesota clutches onto visions of an Iowa win where she’s running fourth. A miracle win at the kick-off caucus keeps her in the race, otherwise the field will likely narrow further.
	Rick Santorum		Santorum has been in Iowa so long, he qualifies for in-state tuition. His reward? 6 percent! He and Bachmann were endorsed by a key Iowa evangelical leader, as a team. Didn’t know you could team up to win the nomination, did you?
	Jon Huntsman		It might be time to return to the barn when the only attractive things about your campaign are your daughters web videos. But as long as pops keeps pumping dough into the campaign, why not carry on?

2012 Power Rankings: October 24, 2011

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Oct 24




















 The GOP Horses 




Power Ranking
The Horse

Momentum
The Tip Sheet




Mitt

  Romney





Despite his most criticized debate performance to date, Romney   increasingly exudes an aura of inevitability. He is suddenly contending   in Iowa, a state he’d reportedly written off like an ugly cousin to her   prettier pal, New Hampshire. If Romney wins IA and NH, it’s race over.






Herman

Cain



Cain leads some state polls and recently won the Nevada straw poll.   However, he’s approaching Bachmann territory on the gaffe scale and   probably needs to sort out his own apples and oranges before trying to   explain them on camera. The next 30 days will determine if he’s a   legitimate threat, or the latest dream horse to flash and fade.




Rick

  Perry



Perry was aggressive and engaged in the last debate and, for the first   time, looked like he came to fight. But was the swagger too much? His   slide on the track seems to have slowed and he’s steadied before hitting   the Bachmann basement. Perry now looks to retread candidate Steve   Forbes for a new push from an economic plan to compete with the   notoriety received by Herman Cain’s 9-9-9.




Newt

Gingrich


Newt is still the 2012 ideas man and he’s sole handedly the reason to   watch the debates. Yes, he’s on the rise, but Newt is also still as   likely to win the nomination as Huntsman, which is a nice way of saying   he won’t.




Ron

Paul



Paul has the firmest ceiling of any horse in the race. On the one hand   he’s consistent, on the other he’s completely incapable of changing   anyone’s mind. It’s worth noting that he outspent most of the horses in   Q3 and still hasn’t seen any movement in his numbers.




Michele

  Bachmann




Bachmann's fast-fade has just gone supersonic with the mass resignation of her New Hampshire staff. Bachmann is now putting all her hay into Iowa, a state where she clings to fifth place over Perry. Could she still win there? Yes. Will she make it to Iowa? Probably not.



Rick

  Santorum


Santorum clings to the   hope that the economy will suddenly go all Lazarus on America, creating   an opening as the top social conservative in the race. Someone might   whisper in his ear that if the economy miraculously pulls itself off the   mat, Obama will take credit and easily win reelection. Sure, Santorum   has a path to something, but it's not a nomination, it's a talk show.



Jon

    Huntsman


Huntsman is so far   behind the other horses, he's beginning to make Gary Johnson look   viable. Every candidate but Huntsman has something to offer the   republican party. Even Santorum, the closest horse, has solid social   conservative   creds. All Huntsman ostensibly brings to the field is Mandarin fluency,   something also available through Rosetta Stone. Could there be a surge?   Yes, a surge in the number of unemployment claims listing "Huntsman for   President" as their most recent employer.

2012 Power Rankings: October 11th, 2011

By Scott A. Robinson, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Oct 11

Editors’ Note: The Rankings will be updated twice a month, once in this brief format listing the top-tier candidates, and once in a full tip sheet format listing all major declared candidates.

1. Mitt Romney

After trailing Perry since August 24th, Romney has finally inched back into the lead, both in the national polling averages and where it matters most: The 2012 Power Rankings. While his campaign might not have the passion of a teenage romance, he’s quietly become the old pair of horsehide gloves — well-worn, broken-in and very familiar. With Iowa less than 90 days away, Romney looks content to run the rail at the same speed from start-to-finish and let the horse chips fall where they may.

2. Herman Cain

The “Pay as you Go!” conservative breeders of the GOP finally have a candidate to bet the farm on. The latest not-Romney firebrand, Herman “999” Cain is believed by some to be one who could just cut the federal budget down from deep dish to thin and crispy. As the only other non-career politician in the race, he does not have previous votes or policies to run from. However, he also lacks the political network of friends in low places to keep his war chest full.

3. Rick Perry

Perry’s staff could see huge bonuses after a fantastic fundraising quarter. The bad news is that Perry’s staff might see huge bonuses once this horse is put out to pasture. There’s still some time for Perry to find a path to the nomination that avoids a Fred Thompson-style meltdown, but at his pace he could run out of track long before Iowa. No matter what, the two men are likely to share at least one attribute. It’s their love of acting on television: Thompson as a District Attorney; Perry as a conservative.

4. Ron Paul

Paul is, without a doubt, the most consistent horse in the 2012 race. One year ago, Paul averaged 7.7 in the national polls. Today, after a year of campaigning, fundraising and winning straw polls, he averages 8.0. Perhaps most impressively, his positions are unchanged since he first debated them with Susan B. Anthony.

2012 Power Rankings: September 28th, 2011

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Sep 28




















 The GOP Horses 




Power Ranking
The Horse

Momentum
The Tip Sheet




Rick

  Perry




Perry's lead in the polls shrinks with every sleepy-eyed debate performance. In the most recent, Perry gave a few odd answers between stifled yawns, especially on college tuition for illegal immigrants. PD wonders if Rick  Perry's advisors on immigration are Cheech and Chong, because if he keeps this approach, his campaign will go up in smoke.






Mitt

  Romney



Romney's numbers are recovering slowly as he continues to run with the strategy that as long as he doesn't trip, he'll win. It’s a questionable approach, one that hearkens to Thomas Dewey’s “just don’t make a  mistake” campaign of 1948. You know, “Dewey defeats Truman.” We aren’t entirely sure, but maybe Romney thinks if he runs his campaign conservatively, he’ll convince voters he is actually is one.




Ron

  Paul



Paul just cracked double digits in a legitimate national poll (Gallup) for the first time in recent memory. Ron Paul also just lost a straw poll (Florida) for the first time in recent memory. His supports continue  to insist he’s the only candidate that can fix our problems, and we agree that  until now, he’s been about the only consistent candidate in the GOP race. Paul is consistent in his message, consistent in his views, consistently cranky and consistent in polling 7 to 8% on average in national polls. 




Herman

  Cain


Cain is surging and building buzz the way Trump and Bachmann did before him. Cain needs to do what neither of them could and build on the momentum of the Florida Straw Poll victory. To do this, Cain has to prove he’s not a thin crust on the issues, rather that he can get deep dish with his ideas on solving problems.



Newt

  Gingrich


Gingrich hit third in a recent poll (CNN) for the first time and PD thinks his performance in the debates have been the key. But while Gingrich shows in debates he's a political savant, it only magnifies the fact that his personal life is an extended episode of Benny Hill. Still, as one PD editor pointed out, Gingrich would look real good flambéing Joe Biden in a VP debate as the GOP's number two candidate.




Michele

  Bachmann




The congresswoman's fast and furious decent from her Ames win has her polling just 4% in the new CNN poll. Despite a promising start to her campaign, and her attempt to portray herself as having more  gravitas than Tea Party twin Sarah Palin, Bachmann has become Palin redux. It’s so bad, PD is waiting for her to say she can stand on the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota and see China.



Rick

  Santorum


The tale of The Strange  Candidacy of Rick Santorum continues, with some fascinating developments in recent weeks. It turns  out that like Gingrich, Santorum is also a pretty darned good debater. He's turned in strong performances, including the last, after which some pundits said he came in a close second to Romney. What does all this mean? Two measly points in most national polls, and, given Santorum’s social issue  emphasis, not much of a chance to get any stronger. Rick can’t fix the economy if he doesn’t realize it is the problem.



Jon

    Huntsman


With all due respect to the former Utah governor, he needs to hear this: "Viability has now left the building." Huntsman is polling last among the candidates that have appeared in the majority of the debates -- no, Gary Johnson doesn’t count -- and Huntsman hasn’t made much of an effort to run as a conservative. His mantra has been his appeal to independents, but that does him no good when he's likely to be on a Harley tour next fall when independents actually matter.

2012 Power Rankings: September 14th, 2011

By David Kaiser, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Sep 14




















 The GOP Horses 




Power Ranking
The Horse

Momentum
The Tip Sheet




Rick

  Perry




In just a matter of weeks, the Texas governor has gone from an unannounced, hypothetical horse to the frontrunner. Perry's bounced so high, he's been offered an endorsement deal with the fabric softener. He's   got the looks and Texas swagger that has many conservatives swooning,   but can you hear the whispers in the Lone Star State that his   conservative creds aren't all they seem? Today   he's in the lead, even after an uneven debate performance, but the next   few weeks will tell us if he's really the jogger or the unlucky coyote.




Mitt

  Romney



For the first time since the end of 2008, Romney   is no longer in the top spot. Will his strategy of going “all in” to   win New  Hampshire pay off, or will Romney's chapter in the history's   presidential campaign textbook come right after "The Great '08 Collapse   of Fred Thompson" and "Rudy Giuliani Busts in the Sunshine State?"   Perhaps the better questions are these: Does Romney actually look more   comfortable drafting Perry than leading him? Is he secretly donating to   Bachmann's campaign?




Ron

  Paul



This   is the highest Ron Paul has been ranked in the six-year history of the   Power Rankings. Take a deep breath, Paul haters, and acknowledge out   loud that the good doctor is currently third in the RCP national   averages ahead of Bachmann, Gingrich, etc. Everyone knows the key for   Paul will be to buck the trend of straw poll wins and money bombs and   actually produce votes that count in a caucus or primary. 




Michele

  Bachmann


Bachmann has faded from an impressive victory   at Ames to the middle of the pack. Her buzz-worthy news-cycle has   vanished faster than a Solyndra loan. She was a no–show in the Reagan Presidential Library   debate but feisty in the first Florida debate. Can she stall the slide   on a muddy track? Without a quick turnaround, she's likely to be best   remembered for promising $2 gas when everyone knows Taco Bell offers the   same thing for only a buck.



Herman

  Cain


Cain is   establishing himself  as the top lower-tier  candidate, polling ahead of the likes of Newt Gingrich,  Rick Santorum,  and Jon Huntsman in the early primaries. He's had Jekyll and Hyde debate  performance, peddling his “9-9-9” tax plan, but at times sounding   confused on other issues. It's still a long road for the "Godfather of   Pizza" to  have  any sniff at the nomination, but with his Tea Party ties and  strong business  background, Cain could find himself in the VP   discussion, serving as the breadsticks to the eventual deep dish   nominee.



Newt

  Gingrich


If   the nomination was all about debate performance, Newt would be   Secretariat, Seabiscuit and Smarty Jones all wrapped up in one   super-horse package. But since his campaign staff is probably being run   by college interns, he looks more suited for the glue factory than the   winners circle. We've occasionally channeled John McCain's Lazarus-like   rise from a trouble campaign to the 2008 nominee. But it ain't happening   this time. Can you say, Secretary of State or Chief-of-Staff?



Rick

  Santorum


 On paper, Santorum isn't a great candidate. In reality, he's even   worse. He only avoids the back of the track because at least he's still   got a following of social conservatives in Iowa and has produced a   handful of shining moments in the early debates. PD suggests he has an outside chance of a  respectable finish in Iowa, if he can marshal up enough social  conservatives  who disagree with the rest of the planet that this election is all about the economy.



Jon

    Huntsman


 Huntsman's   national polling average is 1.5%. If an actual horse stood on a bale of hay and announced a campaign for the nomination, he would poll higher.   The former Utah governor's invisibility in this race and inability to   find traction is something historians will likely examine for years to come. After all, he has everything Republicans are looking for, except any semblance of being one.

2012 Power Rankings: August 16, 2011

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Aug 16

Welcome to the 11th edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race and the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge Obama in 2012.

As a reminder, the rankings are not a prediction of which horse will win the nomination, they are simply a snap shot of where the horses are on the track today. Rankings are based on DC scuttlebutt, grassroots buzz, polls, straw polls, fundraising, PAC activity, and media coverage.

Beginning now, the Power Rankings will only include declared horses running significant campaigns.

1. Mitt Romney: With each passing month, Romney looks more the part of a classic frontrunner. Pace yourself, don’t engage your competition needlessly and don’t take chances. His opponents and the media may loathe the strategy, but it’s worked — so far. Other horses took shots at Romney skipping the Ames straw poll, but will it matter? Both David Axelrod and his Stache were outraged that the “weird” Romney waited until the buzzer sounded to announce his position on the debt deal, but did actual voters notice? Whether they did or not, with the summer winding down and Rick Perry in the race, Romney’s lead is shrinking.

2012 Power Rankings: June 15, 2011

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jun 15

Welcome to the tenth edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race and once again we’re the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge Obama in 2012.

1. Mitt Romney: As the classic potential Republican frontrunning nominee, Romney is likely to raise more money in the second quarter than the other horses combined. This is critical in a rich race which could cost nearly as much as the incumbent president has spent on greens fees. It helps that Romney carries the perception of having paid his proverbial “dues” and that he looks the part. This means nothing in terms of actual abilities, but in the real world, appearance matters. Just ask Pippa Middleton. If not for Romneycare, Mitt would cruise to the nomination. But if Pawlenty and the other chasers don’t frame the debate better, he’ll cruise anyway. Prediction: Runs from the front to convention.

2012 Power Rankings: January 17, 2011

By Power Rankings

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jan 17

Welcome to the ninth edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race and once again we’re the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge Obama in 2012.

1. Sarah Palin: The year 2011 will define Palin, but neither as a Fox News personality, nor as the hostess with the mostest walking us through the wilds of Alaska. No, 2011 will be the year she defines herself as a potential candidate for President of the United States. The you betchya’s and why donchya’s are starting to age like a fine loaf of bread, and six out of 10 Americans say they wouldn’t even consider voting for her. Worse, her year started with the media suggesting she was responsible for the Tucson shootings, then griping that she inserted herself into the story by responding to their accusations. On the other hand, Palin tolerated Kate Gosselin’s company for an entire afternoon, people. An entire afternoon! Don’t count on her taking her ‘prom hair’ back home.

2012 Power Rankings: October 15, 2010

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Oct 14

Welcome to the eighth edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race, and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge Obama in 2012. The rankings will be updated only sporadically until after the 2010 midterms.

1. Sarah Palin – Sarah’s good summer could turn into a fantastic fall, depending on how Palin-backed candidates fair in the general elections. The most well-known is Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell, whose upset victory over the very popular Mike Castle was a jaw-dropper. The bad news for Palin? O’Donnell is down so far in the polls, she’s going to need the Chilean Phoenix capsule just to get even with opponent Chris Coons. Still, Sarah runs at the head of the track because of her endorsement record thus far, her national visibility, and her Tea Party cred.

2012 Power Rankings: June 22, 2010

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012, Races 2010 on Jun 22

Welcome to the seventh edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race, and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge Obama in 2012. The rankings will be updated only sporadically until after the 2010 midterms.

1. Sarah Palin – For the first time in over year, we have a new horse at the top. Palin-backed candidates have cleaned up in the spring primary season and her appearances at Tea Party rallies generate more buzz and pop than Justin Beiber on a Red Bull binge. The criticism of her resigning as Alaska’s governor has faded and she skillfully turned stalkerneighborgate into a positive. Perhaps this quote from her keynote address at the Tea Party Convention earlier this year best sums up her rise to the top of the PD rankings: “How’s that hopey-changey stuff workin’ out for ya?”

2012 Power Rankings: January 28, 2010

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jan 28

Welcome to the sixth edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race, and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge President Obama in 2012.

The rankings will be updated only sporadically until after the 2010 midterms. But make no mistake, race fans, the battle for 2012 is underway.

Republican Horses

1. Mitt Romney – Forget what you’ve read, Mittens is the real winner in the Scott Brown Cinderella Story. Romney and Romney’s operatives played a major role in Brown’s campaign, and what could look better for Romney than the hottest young Republican in the party standing up a year from now and saying “I support Mitt Romney for President”. Right now, only the endorsements of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater’s creepy Avatars would be a bigger coup for Willard.

2. Sarah Palin – The good news for Palin is that she now has a major platform on FoxNews and hours and hours of face time with voters between now and 2012. The bad news is that she now has a major platform on FoxNews and hours and hours of face time with voters between now and 2012 — and every single minute of every single hour will be on video. What are the chances she doesn’t say something bizarro that will sink her campaign before it starts?

3. Tim Pawlenty – What can you say about Paw? He’s still a guy people seem to like, but he really isn’t doing much to shake the perception that he’s just too – uh – vanilla. Not that there’s anything wrong with vanilla. But half-a-bottle of chocolate sauce and some crushed nuts really livens up a scoop of the stuff. Pawlenty needs to find his chocolate sauce and nuts before a candidate like Butter Pecan or Rocky Road make him an afterthought in the back of the freezer.

4. Mike Huckabee – Huck’s no longer got the market cornered as candidate-turned-Fox-News-Host-turned-potential-candidate, not with Palin’s new contract and incredible visibility with Fox. True, Huck is leading the way in a lot of the early polls, but there appears to be an enthusiasm gap. Need proof? Google ‘Huckabee 2012′ and you’ll find 809K results. But Google ‘Pants on the Ground’ and you’ll find over 40 million. That’s the kind of analysis you just don’t get from Rove or Sabato.

5. Scott Brown and Rick Santorum (tie) – The once and future senators seem to be opposite ends of the spectrum. Santorum was a leader in the GOP during much of Dubbya’s administration, but was cast aside in the backlash of 2006. Brown is the current darling of the Republican party, winning a seat that just two months ago seemed un-winnable for any Republican. Ricky has baggage, but at least has actually admitted to considering a run. Scotty has no experience on the national stage and no apparent interest, but more buzz than a Kennedy Boys Night Out and the look of a GOP centerfold. Nevertheless, if forced to split horse hairs, Ricky gets a slight edge because one would surmise that Brown won’t bite the hand that helped feed him a seat in the Senate. At least not in 2012.

Other horses receiving votes: Haley Barbour, Eric Cantor, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, John Thune

Let the debate begin.

2012 Power Rankings: November 2, 2009

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Nov 2

Welcome to the fifth edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race (archive here), and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge President Obama.

The rankings will be updated only sporadically until after the 2010 midterms. But make no mistake, race fans, the battle for 2012 is underway.

Republican Horses

1. Mitt Romney – Romney’s approval index is +12%, a number he never sniffed during his 2008 run and he’s in or near the lead in most polls for the 2012 GOP nomination. Recently the Democrats are bashing him as if it’s 2011, a sure sign they see him as a threat. Still, until he clears a few ’08 cobwebs, namely accusations of flip-flopping and the giant albatross that was “RomneyCare”, Mitt remains a very vulnerable front runner.

2. Sarah Palin – She’s on Facebook. She’s on Twitter. She’s on MooseHunters.com. Palin’s gone more viral than the Swine Flu. Tearing pages from the Obama playbook, the hockey mom has taken her message to the fabulous interweb, stirring up debate while curled up on a couch with her laptop. The only problem? 65% of Americans don’t feel she has the ability to be an effective candidate, including 51% of Republicans. If that doesn’t turn around in the next twelve months, her 2012 campaign could be the biggest bust since Meghan McCain’s Twittergate.

3. Mike Huckabee – There’s little doubt he’ll run again, but plenty of doubt about his ability to win. He could be dangerous in Iowa and South Carolina, but that’s where his 2008 campaign essentially ended. But no one told Huckabee, and many saw his over-stay in the campaign as a way to siphon just enough votes from personal nemesis Mitt Romney to hand the nomination to John McCain. Money was also a major issue for Huckabee last time around the track, which may explain all those commercials during his show featuring the little stack of money with googly eyes.

4. Tim Pawlenty – Shoots from unranked to 4th, due primarily to his highly publicized decision to birth his very own bouncing baby political action committee and his hyperactive national schedule. Toss in the fact that he’s been collecting former Bush and McCain campaign operatives like Obama collects Marxist Czars, and it seems obvious the recovering mullet-wearer, soon-to-be-ex-governor-of-a-swing-state is running full throttle.

5. Rick Santorum – How does a guy who lost his reelection bid to the senate get ranked? For one he’s actually admitted to considering a run, which is more than Jindal or Barbour can say. Good: Santorum was once high in GOP leadership and known for his effective, confrontational style, which might be just what one needs to take on Obama. Bad: He lost his US Senate seat by 17 percentage points to a man with a uni-brow. Yikes.

Other horses receiving votes: John Thune, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Haley Barbour

Let the debate begin.

2012 Power Rankings: July 8, 2009

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jul 8

Welcome to the fourth edition of PoliticalDerby.comâ€™s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race (archive here), and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge President Obama.

The rankings will be updated only sporadically until after the 2010 midterms. But make no mistake, race fans, the battle for 2012 is underway.

Republican Horses

1. Mitt Romney â€“ Romney’s 2009 to-do list: Slip sedative in Jindal’s water bottle before national debut? Check. Transfer frequent flier miles to Sanford for Argentina trip? Done. Tweet that Huntsman speaks Mandarin Chinese? Yep. Mastermind Palin’s bizarre resignation as Governor? You betcha! Can any sane pundit make an argument that Mitt Romney is not the clear front runner for the 2012 nomination? He’s still getting tasty mojo from activists and party leaders who appreciated his team-first response to losing to McCain and he’s refilling his cash and goodwill bank accounts in hopes he can better defend the Flipper jokes. His favorability rating has spiked up 10 points since bowing out after Super Tuesday, according to Pew Research. Nothing stinky about that.

2012 Power Rankings: March 16, 2009

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Mar 16

Welcome to the third edition of PoliticalDerby.comâ€™s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race (archive here), and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge President Obama. (Unless something historic happens, Obama will not face competition for the 2012 nomination.)

The rankings will be updated only sporadically until after the 2010 midterms. But make no mistake, race fans, the battle for 2012 is underway.

Republican Horses

1. Mark Sanford â€“ Governor Grassroots Darling makes his way to the front of the pack because he has the audacity to think SC might know better than Washington how to spend all that bailout booty. If he’s successful in standing up to the 700,000,000-eyed stimulus monster, this shiny-toothed horse may stay out front through the first turn and be well positioned for the back stretch in 2010. If not, he could waste away faster than Katie Holmes on the cabbage soup diet.

2. Mitt Romney â€“ Mitt holds on to #2 by simply staying steady. He continues to give good speeches and they seem to only get better with practice. Did winning the CPAC straw poll for the third time in a row reassure conservatives that he might actually be the answer this go ’round? Time will tell, but for now he just needs to hope that his health care legacy in Massachusetts doesnâ€™t end up being proof that Obamaâ€™s canâ€™t work.

3. Sarah Palin â€“ Just when her daughter and grandbaby had become yesterdayâ€™s news, America’s favorite moose hunter has to deal with an ex-future-son-in-law. Palin must have cringed at Bristolâ€™s comment that abstinence isnâ€™t practical. (Technically the teen was right. Studies prove it’s pretty dang tough to practice abstinence as a teenager while still having sex.) Now toss in the news that the woman who previously tried to convince us that the only good earmarks are the ones used to tag caribou slyly slipped a few of her own into the ominous omnibus bill. Is it 14:59 for Sarah?

4. Mike Huckabee â€“ Sanford’s move to the front of the pack knocks Huck back a slot on the track. The former governor is getting plenty of face time, but a central question seems to remain for many conservatives: â€œIs Huck Glib Finn the best we can do? Really?â€ He’s certainly working hard to convince his Switzerland-sized army of FoxNews viewers that the answer is a big fat yes. Good thing for Huck that Hannity or Beck arenâ€™t running.

5. Bobby Jindal â€“ Bobby breaks back into the front five by embracing the any-publicity-is-good-publicity axiom. Jindal gave the GOP response to President Obamaâ€™s pseudo State of the Union speech and took a beating from the national press that even Chris Brown could be proud of. But while it wasn’t exactly must-see TV, it did have a Norman Gentle quality to it. Hard to watch; hard to look away. The good news is he’s performed better of late on Larry King, 60 Minutes, etc. The bad news is that unless he sprouts a second head that can speak something other than wonkese, he will never be a match for Obama. Or Romney, for that matter.

Other horses receiving votes: Jon Huntsman, George Allen, John Thune, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty

2012 Power Rankings: January 21, 2009

By Jason Wright, Editor

Filed Under Power Rankings Only 2012 on Jan 21

Welcome to the second edition of PoliticalDerby.com’s 2012 Power Rankings. We were the first to rank the horses for the ’08 race (archive here), and now the first to rank the horses that will vie for the GOP nomination to challenge President Obama. (Unless something truly scandalous happens, Obama will not face competition for the 2012 nomination.)

The rankings won’t be updated often until after the 2010 midterms. But make no mistake, the race for 2012 is underway.

Republican Horses

1. Sarah Palin – When in history has a losing Vice Presidential candidate done more interviews during the 60 days after an election than during the 60 days prior to the election? She’s the only woman on TV more than Heidi Montag. While she’s not exactly running away from the other 2012 contenders, she’s still the frontrunner by default. So until someone else comes along who can field dress a moose in shorter time, with a wink to boot, the current Governor of Alaska maintains the lead.

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