Right Wing News has published a poll of fifty top Republican bloggers on who their most and least desired nominees for 2008 is. Bloggers were asked to list their top five choices for the nomination, as well as the five they would least want to get the GOP nomination. The big winners were Newt “The Right’s Al Gore” Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani. The big losers were Chuck Hagel and John McCain.
John Hawkins of Right Wing News explains the scoring:
The bloggers were allowed to make 1-5 ranked selections. Those selections were weighted as follows…
1) Worth 2 points
2 or 3) Worth 1.5 points
4 or 5) Worth 1 point
That scoring is indicated in the parentheses following the candidates’ names listed below.
Most Desired Nominee For 2008
14) John Cox (4)
13) Jeb Bush (5)
12) Jim Gilmore (5.5)
11) Ron Paul (8.5)
10) Condi Rice (11.5)
9) Mike Huckabee (14)Tommy Thompson (15.5)
7) John McCain (19)
6) Sam Brownback (20)
5) Tom Tancredo (31.5)
4) Duncan Hunter (35.5)
3) Mitt Romney (43)
2) Rudy Giuliani (45)
1) Newt Gingrich (52)Least Desired Nominee For 2008
13) John Cox (4.5)
12) Jim Gilmore (5.5)
11) Tommy Thompson (9)
10) Ron Paul (10.5)
9) Mitt Romney (11.5)
7) Newt Gingrich (13.5)
6) Rudy Giuliani (17)
5) Sam Brownback (21)
4) Tom Tancredo (30)
3) George Pataki (49)
2) John McCain (60.5)
1) Chuck Hagel (64)
McCain and Hagel really take big hits in this poll. McCain is only the 7th most desirable candidate and Hagel doesn’t even make the top fifteen as far as Republican bloggers are concerned. They are the two least desirable candidates in the poll.
I was shocked by how much these 50 bloggers liked the socially liberal Rudy Giuliani and the flip-flopper extraordinaire Mitt Romney. If I had to guess, I think that their high polling is strongly influenced on the perception that both Romney and Giuliani as north eastern moderates (kinda) are electable. It certainly isn’t for their long-standing, earned credentials as Republicans.
Tom Tancredo and Sam Brownback occupy comparable points in both polls, with an almost equal number of bloggers finding them both the most desirable and least desirable candidate. I’d be interested in seeing how their positioning changes as their name recognition grow – clearly they have to start shifting in one way or another in terms of their acceptability.
Technorati Tags: Chuck Hagel, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Right Wing News, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo
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