Thursday, July 30, 2015

Power Rankings: Presidential Field

Many (well, at least 2- ESPN and Fox Sports) issue power rankings to teams and in the case of NASCAR, drivers, in different sports.
In college sports, they have numerous polls showing who is in first place.
Mind you, these rankings really mean nothing and they are only opinions of the people who vote or write the columns.  They may vote or write, even if they are not experts in their field.
And so, to try and copy these power rankings and polls, I am going to list the strongest to the weakest major candidates in the presidential field, from my perspective.  And that perspective is a person, a mostly conservative person, who has some knowledge of the candidates and issues but not a whole lot- I am not some kind of political wonk but I am not completely ignorant like those man/women of the street interviews who would vote to clean up the nation of H20 (water) or carbon dioxide.
So, here goes and if enough people read, I will come out every so often and redo the list.  If no one reads it or I put people to sleep, well, I am one and done.  And if you have a different opinion, please share it with us.
This week, I will do most of the major contenders and then drop down to the top 20, then 15 and so on before we get the final 2 or 3.
1.  Donald Trump: The Donald is driving the campaign, whether you like it or not.  He can criticize others but really can't take it and he needs to come up with ideas along with 1 liners.
2.  Scott Walker:  He can beat Hillary and the Donald and anybody who eats a hamburger and drink a Schlitz beer at Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago, home of the FIB's and Cubs, can't be all that bad.  Plus the Unions still hate him, which is good.
3.  Hillary Clinton: The Good:  Just about everyone knows Hillary, so she doesn't need to introduce herself.  The bad: Just about everyone knows her and she won't gain much support but may lose a lot, except of hard core Hillary and Bill fans.  Speaking of hard core, is anybody surprised that Bill is still carrying on with a blonde mistresses when Hillary is away from home, which is probably 96% of the time.  And getting a $600 haircut does not make you more in touch with the middle class.
4.  Bernie Sanders:  For a complete Socialist/Communist, he is doing pretty good in the polls.  But it is probably more of wishful thinking of the media, so they can pretend there is a race for the Democrat primary.  Also proof that this race is a good one for guys with bad hair: Trump, Sanders, Walker, Hillary...
5. Jeb Bush:  Still raking in the money and still doing poorly in the polls.  Might be the most boring guy out there.  Ideas are bland, his life is rich but bland, hair is decent.  He just doesn't stand out to the average voter- but he does have the establishment GOP voters behind him.
6.  Chris Christie:  Bet he wishes the movie "Back to the Future" was real and he could get a time machine to go back about 5 years when he was really popular.  But alas, he's a FOB (Friend of Barack), runs a terrible State with high taxes and his bombastic lines aren't cute anymore, especially since Trump is in the race.
7.  Ted Cruz:  Anybody who goes after Mitch McConnell and calls the Senate Majority a liar, the same as Senile Harry Reid and ugly is A-OK in my book.  That will help him with hard core conservatives but may hurt him with fund raising.
8.  Carly Fiorina:  She is taking on Hillary better than anybody else and has better sound bites than Trump.  But her poll numbers are horrible.  Maybe the liberal media are afraid of a Hillary-Carly match-up and so that is not why they are covering her as much as Hillary?
9.  Joe Biden:  Technically, he is not in.  Technically, he has not said he would run.  Technically, he is a GOP dream candidate for all of his foot-in-mouth sound bites.  Technically, he is the best alternative the Democrats have when Hillary drops out because members of the Secret Service spill all the beans about her and Bill and after it has been revealed Hillary is a really big bitch to the SS folks.  You think they will take a bullet for her or will they blow air at the bullet, hoping it will miss the target.
10.  Rand Paul:  Daddy is still helping out son, especially with daddy appearing in commercials saying we are all facing financial doom.  Rand Paul used to be unique with his more libertarian views, but with 16 other GOP presidential wannabes, he isn't standing out anymore.  Maybe a few more 20+ hour filibusters might help and he had a good chance this week and past weekend but he was very quiet.  Too quiet.
11.  Marco Rubio:  He gets downgraded in my book because of his good hair and body.  This is going to be the ugly election and he is just too pretty.  It will be interesting to see if we get a bunch of Cuba illegals and if they try to vote, will they vote for Rubio?
12.  Jim Webb: In Wisconsin, when they think of Webb, they think of a hamburger place.  Us old guys think of Jack Webb.  No one else thinks much about him.
13.  13.  Mike Huckabee: He made news this week saying the Iran nuclear deal will lead Israelis to the ovens, aka, Nazi Germany, which is true.  He got under the skin of Obama, a few Democrats and Republicans and pretty much, no one else.
14.  Bobby Jindal:  When I think of the name "Bobby", I think of a Brady kid. Jindal is a great governor but he needs to introduce himself to people who don't like grown men using the name "Bobby".  How about using a nickname, like "Donkey Killer", or the "Mean Cajun".
15.  Rick Perry: Dude, Trump was right, you look goofy in those glasses and they don't make you look smarter.  They make you look like a yuppie or a skinny and weak Drew Carey.
16.  Martin O'Malley: Again, this is the ugly election and just because he has 6-pack abs doesn't mean you will get votes.  Plus apologizing for saying that all lives matter, shows that you are really, really, really weak.
17.  Dr. Ben Carson:  Mostly has good conservative ideas, gives a great speech and he is a great story.  But sorry to say, President Obama has made it impossible for another Black person to become president for the next 60 years.
18. Jim Gilmore:  Well, he just entered, so he hasn't had time to make a name for himself or do something stupid...yet.
19.  John Kasich:  RINO running as a conservative.  In this field, he will have to compete against a few others for that title, including Bush and this guy:
20.  George Pataki:  Why is he running?  Other than those who really actually care, who know who Pataki is.  Maybe he will get a few votes because his name sounds like George Takei, a gay man who played Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek.
21.  Rick Santorum: Nice guy, good conservative. But to quote the great Leo Durocher: Nice guys finish last.
22. Lindsay Graham: He must have one hell of an ego to think he will get more than 2% in the polls.  And he will lose a lot of votes to George Pataki-Takei.
23.  Lincoln Chaffee.  Republicans hate him.  Democrats hate him.  But it looks like he's gotten a bunch of them free meals.
And finally:
24: Pogo Mochello Reese- A Black Republican and former exotic dancer and supposedly friends with 4 Southern governors.  With a name like that, he needs some consideration.
25: President Emperor Caesar, a Democrat from Florida.  As a running mate, may I suggest Rome Murphy III, a Democrat from New Jersey who is also running for President.

No comments:

Post a Comment