GOP Power Rankings 9/12/11...

Three becomes two?

Mitt Romney and Rick Perry tangle at the Reagan Library, Huntsman fight back, Bachmann wondering what happened...

NEXT DEBATE: Monday,  September 12, 2011. 8:00pm CNN 

This week's rankings:

1) Mitt Romney - Deflected most of Perry's parries pretty well at the debate last week. Didn't say anything full goose, bozo crazy. Great discipline. Perry seems likely to be in the limelight through the campaign. Romney seems to be the party nominee next Summer.   Lots can go wrong of course, but if he stays on course, I think he emerges as the reasonable choice for mainstream Republican voters. (Last Ranking: #1)

2) Rick Perry - Welcome to Rick Perry's Meat Market... You like red meat? We got. Lots of it. How do we get our fresh meat? You get fresh meat by killing things. You hear that roar in the Reagan library last week when they reminded them I'm the king of the executioners? Ohhhh, yeah, that's ME! I killed Michelle Bachmann's momentum, I killed any outside shot Mr. Santorum, Mr. Cain, Mr. Paul or Mr. Gingrich had. This is fuuuunnnnnnn!!! (Does he remind anyone else of Rod Blagojevich? They could be brothers.) (Last Ranking: #2)

3) Michelle Bachmann - Mrs. Bachmann, did you forget there was a Republican debate last week at the Reagan Library? I thought I saw you there, but I wasn't sure. Bachmann has to find a way to elbow herself back into the conversation. Quickly. And leave God out of it, ok? (Last Ranking: #3) 

4) John Huntsman - Performed as well as anyone did at last week's debate. Sounded smart, reasonable and unique. What I didn't like was his refusing to name names when asked which GOP candidates were weak on science. There's a slight opportunity he can push his way into the upper tier if he starts directly challenging the big boys on some of their positions. The next debate will tell us whether his performance at Simi Valley was a preview of coming attractions or a little testosterone surge. (Last Ranking: #9) 

5) Rick Santorum - Similar to Herman Cain's problem, Rick Santorum has to make himself relevant. Perry covers his same basic constituancy but with a lot more appeal, so the climb will be a hard one. I just don't see anything that Santorum can do to push his way into top tier grouping. If he couldn't do it before Perry joined the campaign, I don't think he can do it now. (Last Ranking: #7)

6) Herman Cain - Another candidate struggling to not be left behind the Romney/Perry express.The 9/9/9 economic plan sounded more like a pizza deal than a potential government policy. Mr. Cain, like others, has to create a compelling rivalry with one of the top two guys. He has to make himself matter and thus far, he hasn't.  (Last Ranking: #6) 

 

7) Newt Gingrich - For the second debate in a row, chewing on the ass of the moderators struck the former Speaker as a smart strategy. Its not. Eat before you come out on stage, ok? What an incredible, FUBAR-esque disaster of a campaign.  (Last Ranking: #8) 

8) Ron Paul - It's not working, Mr. Paul. I know you're one of the brighter guys on the stage, but last week's debate did not help. I appreciate where you're coming from but you sound more oddball than Presidential. Paul's not getting a lot of face time at these debates, but he'd better grab some in the next few or it won't matter. He was a long shot from the get go...(Last Ranking: #4) 

9) Sarah Palin - Ughh, the bastards have turned on me! Yup, when other Fox news pundits start taking aim, its not a good thing. Its one thing to lump the expected  shots from the "Lame stream media" but when Karl Rove and Co. start singing the song, its quite another. She may drag this on for a few more weeks, but everything points to her not running. Thankfully.(Last Ranking: #5) 

Overall Rankings: (The lower the score, the better...)

(After 7 rankings...)

 

1. Romney - 7
2. Bachmann - 16
3. Perry - 26
4. Cain - 35

5. Palin - 42

6. Santorum - 46

7. Paul - 48 

8. Huntsman - 56
9. Gingrich - 62

(NOTE: Rankings are compiled by simply adding the rankings each week to a running total of same...)