Bush 13.2 Walker 12.5
Rubio 12
Carson 9.2
Paul 9.2
Huckabee 8.7 Cruz 8.5
Christie 4.8
Trump 4 Perry 2.7
Kasich 2
Santorum 2
Fiorina 1.6
Graham 1.3
Serious contenders in bold. RCP even including the others (though I might include Paul) merely shows the lack of seriousness with which RCP is taking things at this point in the game. Perry has the ability to raise more money than anyone except Bush over any given week. That he’s polling so far down is more a product of his not being in the spotlight until recently.
Seriously, listing Trump - whom everyone knows isn’t really running - is irresponsible in the extreme.
While I realize it’s on a much smaller scale than the state of Texas, and the charges were different, I feel I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Democrats re-elected Marion Barry as mayor of DC after he served a prison term.
It’s hard to compare anyone to Reagan because he was a unique figure. Not the most intellectual guy, but intellectual enough to be able to explain his worldview in a persuasive way, and an eternal optimist and dreamer.
Perry, on the other hand, even looks a little like GWB. He’s got that swagger, impatience for wonkiness, yet doesn’t seem to have Bush’s confidence. The only thing worse than another Bush is an indecisive GWB clone.
I’d say that any one of those could win. They are all serious in terms of being able to win the nomination. Even Fiorina, who I would rate dead last, has been impressing activists with her political talent. But political talent is not the same as governing talent and we know how Fiorina governs.
Jon Stewart put Rick Perry in the spotlight on his show last night. Perry is coming across as very dim, in my opinion. Just a couple of his quotes that made me shake my head:
“We must do right, and risk the consequences,” Perry said in his announcement video."
What in the world does this mean?
“There is nothing wrong in America today that a change in leadership won’t make happen.”
I can, if only because it’s happened before. That’s probably why he thinks he can win. And he can. He’s got the paper qualifications and the corporate world loves his pro-business record.
My guess would be because they won significant primary votes or polled well in prior years, or because they haven’t run before but are seen as serious candidates. Most of the people on the list have tried and flamed out spectacularly. That includes Santorum; I am a little surprised to see anyone other than his mother suggesting he has a chance to win without every other candidate coming down with some deadly tropical disease.
Rick Perry would be a serious candidate if we hadn’t already had eight terrible years of a Rick Perry presidency.
Santorum came in second last time. He may seem like a sick joke to most of us but a lot of voters supported him seriously, and still do. He also has no other apparent reason for running, unlike, say, Huckabee and his TV ratings. So, like it or not, he’s a serious candidate until the voters say otherwise.
Bush is far more intelligent and ethical than Perry. I think Bush played up the common man image; Perry is trying to sound intelligent. That they’re getting close to the same appearance is telling.
Yes, he really said that. From the tone and inflection it was obvious he was supposed to say “fix” instead of “make happen.”
Are there any specific ethical issues you’re referring to WRT Perry, Dave? I know he’s under investigation (indictment?) for firing the Travis County prosecutor but that seems like a largely political prosecution, since the law appears to allow him to do it.
I’m actually quite shocked Rubio is up there. After Aquaboy there had a terrible SOTU response and support of immigration, I counted him all but out. If we threw him into the general though, I could see him polling higher than most of the GOP pile
Santorum only did as well as he did because Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, and Perry all failed to be the anti-Romney they wanted. Santorum was the only anti-Romney left. (Paul veered too far from your typical Republican to ever be an anti-Romney.) I really don’t think Santorum stands a chance in this crowded field of candidates.
(In the interest of full disclosure, during the last election cycle, I insisted that Republicans would never get so desperate for an anti-Romney that they would latch onto Santorum, and I was wrong, so that shows just how much I know.)
Who’s Sheldon Adelson supporting this time? I can see him propping up a bad candidate long after the nomination’s sewn up. No Gingrich this time (what did he ever see in him?), at least for now. In a crowded field, someone with money like that can definitely break one of his preferred guys out of the pack