Talk Elections

(Gary Johnson and other fringe candidates do not count)

Strongest: Romney, followed by Pawlenty.
Weakest: Palin, followed by Huckabee.

Strongest: Gary Johnson
Weakest: Tim Pawlenty

I didn't count fringe candidates like Suckabee.

Strongest: Alan Keyes

Weakest: Barack Obama

Strongest: Johnson
Weakest: barbour

Strongest: Romney, followed by Thune

Weakest: Palin, followed by Barbour/Bush

Strongest: Huckabee
Weakest: Romney

Strongest: Pawlenty
Weakest: Johnson

Strongest: Johnson, Thune
Weakest: Huckabee, Romney.

Strongest: Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels
Weakest: Michele Bachmann, Mike Huckabee

Strongest: Mitt Romney
Weakest: Newt Gingrich

Strongest: Romney, Thune
Weakest: Palin, Johnson

Strongest: Romney, Huckabee
Weakest: Palin, Gingrich

From you that is quite surprising.

Strongest: Palin, Daniels, and anyone who takes up the Ron Paul mantle
Weakest: Romney, Huckabee

Strongest: Romney (can win if Obama is a disaster)

Weakest: tie between Palin (insane) and Barbour (too regional).

Strongest: Palin (within 3-6 points of Obama despite a fairly tough year)

Weakest: Romney (Blanche Lincoln disease: Republicans and conservatives think he's too liberal/moderate, everyone else thinks he's too conservative)

Strongest: Johnson
Weakest: Palin/ Huckabee

Strongest: Romney or Pawlenty
Weakest: Palin, Barbour, Cheney

In terms of being an articulate and intelligent spokesman for conservative ideals, knowing that they're going to lose and therefore using the campaign as a rallying cry to be heard for a generation (ala Godwater 64):

Strongest: Santorum
Weakest: Pawlenty, Romney or Palin; the first because he's bland and boring, the second because he's both boring and unprincipled, the third because she's too dumb to screw in a lightbulb

In terms of electoral success:

Strongest: Johnson
Weakest: Palin

strongest: Romney, his only problem is that a not-insignificant portion of the Republican base hates him (go on Free Republic and see what they have to say about him there), but the rest of the field is extremely weak and the religious/radio right will probably divide itself among 3 or 4 candidates.

weakest: Palin - lots of baggage and a messy family life

Strongest: Romney and Thune

Weakest: Palin

Out of Huck, Palin, Romney, Pawlenty, Daniels, Gingrich

Strongest:  Huck, followed by Palin

Weakest:  Romney and Gingrich

Strongest in terms of funding?  Romney.  And if money wins primaries, we have a nominee.

Strongest in terms of appeal to the extreme right?  Thune, Pence or Barbour.


Weakest in terms of political baggage?  Palin and Huck (the embarrassment factor)

Weakest in terms of persona and image?   Pawlenty (dull)  Newt (asshole)

Weakest in terms of appeal to the extreme right?  Johnson, Giuliani

Strongest: Romney, then Pawlenty, then Thune, then Huckabee, then Gingrich
Weakest: Palin, then Johnson

Strongest- Pawlenty. Governed a Democratic-leaning state for two terms.
Weakest- Huckabee. Crazy, governed a state most people view negatively. Also, scary to the non-base.

In between:
Romney- Would be strongest, but people are bigots and may vote against him solely because he is a Mormon.
Palin- Like Huckabee, but with a little more stupid and a little less crazy. She only gets the edge because Alaska's image is a little better than Arkansas'. Also, she may not even run, and if she does, she'll mostly be doing it for the book deal.
Johnson- Nonfactor, since he's like Paul with even less name recognition.
Newt- Smartest of the bunch, but also thoroughly unlikeable.
Thune- From small state, so not well known. However, he did beat Tom Daschle. While this won't help him at all in the general, this possibly could give him a chance in the primaries.

Why is that people keep on forgeting that he came out of baisicly nowhere and won as a republican the gubernatorial race in a state 2-1 democratic, the proceedid to win re-election.

He rode a wave in 1994 and gubernatorial elections generally aren't as ideological as, say, senatorial elections.  It's not uncommon for a Republican to get elected in a predominately Democratic state, and vice versa.  One Republican or another, for example, has been governor of Massachsetts for 17 of the last 30 years.  Look at Weld's reelection percentage.  Do you think that he would win the Republican nomination?

Winning the presidency - hell, even the nomination - is an entirely different animal.  Once his views on things like the legalization of marijuana becomes fodder - and you better believe that Romney, Pawlenty, and the like will carpet-bomb early states during the primary - what little support will have amongst the elderly who constitute the lion's share of your party's primary voters will drop like a stone.

We don't say Johnson's a non-factor to annoy you or because we're forgetful; we do so because he's a non-factor.

Strongest: Pawlenty
Weakest: Palin

STRONGEST:palin and thune
WEAKEST:pawlenty,gingrich

As much as I like Gary Johnson, he stands little chance of winning the nomination.  A candidate that actually cares about personal freedoms has no chance in today's Republican Party.  It's sad, but true.

Strongest: Pawlenty
Weakest: Palin

Strongest right now: Romney because no one else is out there raising money, followed by Palin
Weakest right now: Huckabee because he can't run while he is on tv

Strongest in the future: Thune, after he wins re-election, he will devote full-time to Iowa. 
Weakest in the future: Romney, voters will find someone they like better; Palin because she won't be able to raise money.

Strongest candidates:
Huckabee (I know many people on this forum will disagree with this, but from what I've seen, he is leading in many polls for the primaries, and polls also show that he is the strongest candidate to go against Obama.)
Romney (has the potential to appeal to moderates and independents, unlike certain other Republican candidates.)
Pawlenty (same reasons as Romney.)
Barbour (is a very skilled politician, and has the potential to appeal to the GOP's southern base.)

Weakest:
Palin (polls show she is the weakest of the most likely presidential candidates to go against Obama. Not to mention that it is likely that she would once again have to deal with Saturday Night Live poking fun at her each week during the campaign.)
Santorum (another candidate who would likely be a weak candidate to go against Obama, and he also lost reelection to the Senate, which isn't a good thing to have while you're running for president.)
Bachmann (same reasons as Santorum, except the part about losing reelection.)

Strongest: Pawlenty, followed by Thune
Weakest: Palin, followed by Romney and Johnson

Strongest: Huckabee, if the polls are to be believed.

Weakest: Ron Paul, followed by Palin.

EDIT: Or Paul substitute Gary Johnson, if you prefer.

Palin and Huckabee - Stongest

Romney - Weakest

In order of strength:

Daniels, Pawlenty, Thune, Romney, Huckabee, Palin, Barbour, Paul.

I would have had Daniels as a potential front-runner, but I don't think he really wants to run.  I also think his ethnic background may hurt him, or voters may choose to ignore it.

Strongest:  Romney, Thune

Weakest:  Palin

Strongest: Huckabee(I honestly think he can overcome the whole clemency issue; it only backfired once), Daniels

Weakest: Palin, Barbour

Hold on a second. Last I checked, Obama was raised by his mother, and later after that, by his grandparents, all of whom were Christian, I believe. And even his father did not exactly practice Islam. Therefore, he was not raised as a Muslim. Obama himself explains it in this quote:

That may well be, but we are talking about the Republican Primary, and most guys who are Southern Christians or War Heroes get preferential treatment.  Daniels is a mild-mannered mid-westerner, will he be able to fight back in the primaries?

Did Obama explore Islam during college?  I remember he said he used to fast on Sundays, which is a muslim tradition.  He said it cleansed his body and soul.  He has a resounding Muslim name, and I think he should explore his father's roots and culture.  He seems too intellectual to be religious, but I know he attends Church because he had a crazy pastor.

Fasting on Sundays is not in any sense a Muslim tradition.

Well Ron Paul is the weakest candidate. The strongest is dependent upon the timing of the elections. I'd say Romney right now is the strongest.

I'm not sure why he fasted, but I wouldn't begrudge him to explore his father's faith.  He was in college after all. 

Of the people who are the "leading" candidates at this point, only Pawlenty seems electable.  I think we've been through the Romney bit and he soiled his resume; Palin is unelectable at this point, barring some major accomplishment; Huckabee has been largely coopted by the Tea Party / libertarian growth in influence.

I don't think anyone else has established themselves quite yet.

Personally, my early prediction for the GOP ticket in '12 is Pawlenty/Rubio.  It fits the geography, the tone of the rhetoric at the moment (more Rubio than Pawlenty), two swingable states, Hispanic vote, etc.  I could also see Cantor as a veep, but it's more of a longshot.  Hoping somehow Paul Ryan gets on the ticket, though.  I'd love to see Ryan/Rubio paired but it's way too early for that, 2016 or 2020 would make more sense for them together on a ticket.

Umm...when did he say this.

I think he started fasting and living a healthier lifestyle after he stopped doing drugs.  Its in his autobiography.