Rick Perry
The man needs to replace his batteries or something, and it might even already be too late for that. Anyone closely studying the candidates in the last debate has to worry whether Perry has the stamina and focus to run a full presidential race. After sparring well with Romney in the early going, Perry faded down the stretch.
Is there anything easier in Republican presidential politics than skewering Romney for his flip flops? Perry, looking tired and unfocussed, muffed this line. It hardly instills confidence.
Perry seems astonished that other GOP candidates are hitting him from all sides, but as long as they keep drawing blood, expect it to continue. Conservatives rallied to defend Perry after the Washington Post published a story on the racist rock at his hunting camp.
Perry is rebuilding, no one will care until Christie makes a decision.
Mitt Romney
Romney is looking more and more like the tortoise that can beat the hare. His tireless and patient campaigning is starting to pay off as Perry wears out his welcome on the Right with bad debate performances and “heresies” on immigration. He has proven so far that he can deflect Perry’s attacks, and he wants to get to the point where Republican leaders crawl back to him as his inevitability rises.
Chris Christie
Enough already. Expect Christie buzz to feature prominently in the news this week but don’t be fooled. We don’t think he’ll run, but he is playing the game to placate his most adamant supporters.
Herman Cain
Everyone loves Cain. He has successfully entertained GOP audiences who tune in for the debates, and his message on citizenship plays well to those who are tired of career politicians. His rising stock signifies that both the media and politically active Republicans are bored with the current field.
Ron Paul
Early reports of Paul’s $5+ million fundraising haul show that he’s here to stay.
This is likely Paul’s last campaign, and he’s going to make it count. But Paul will not be the one who leads libertarians into the promised land. His answers come across poorly — especially the ones where he starts assigning blame for 9/11 — and hurt his chances to win new converts.
Rick Santorum
Santorum loves debates because he can run circles around Perry and Ron Paul and make himself look better by comparison. On a shoe string budget, Santorum is running a model of the Bachmann campaign concentrating all his efforts in Iowa. But shooting to be the next Bachmann is not a winning strategy.
Michele Bachmann
Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll, but Perry’s entrance into the race killed any chance she had at capturing voters beyond Iowa. Even there, she is fading fast. Bachmann’s attacks took Perry down a notch, but her continued gaffes make her look worse. The question is not whether or not she can win Iowa, the question is whether or not she can make it until the Iowa caucuses.
Newt Gingrich
“Hey, pops, tell us another story about the good old Reagan years or the Contract with America!”
Say this about Gingrich: he turns in unique debate performances. Rejecting the moderator’s premise is his standard operating procedure. If he were running against the media (including FOX), he would be winning.
Newt’s new “Contract with America for the 21st Century” is the most recent failed attempt to recapture the fire of the 90’s but at least his wife’s book is doing well.
Jon Huntsman
Huntsman wants to be ‘Mr. New Hampshire,’ but if Ron Paul stays in second place behind Mitt Romney, he doesn’t have a chance.
Gary Johnson
In his debate debut, Johnson had the line of the night – a poop-stimulus joke – but otherwise was unimpressive. We haven’t heard from him since and we don’t expect to.
