I'm not on the Rudy bandwagon, although I do think it's likely he'll win.
Perhaps if Fred Thompson enters, it will be a horserace, but Romney isn't gaining any steam despite being well-funded and organized. McCain is McCain, and Newt, despite being the most intellectual conservative of the bunch, has high negatives even among Republicans. Among Democrats, it's off the charts.
The 1 percenters like Paul and Hunter will not even get 1% of the delegates needed to win the nomination. Rudy has some strong points and he has weak points, so I think we could do worse, and I wish that we'd do better.
I'm more inclined to support Newt, although it's not even clear he'll run. I don't have to decide who's my second choice for quite a long time.
The bill to move the Texas primary to February 5 is moving pretty swiftly through the state legislature, by the way.
the only way he wins is if Fred doesn't jump. fred is a conservative, has less baggage of all sorts and has a better shot at beating whoever the dems settle on. i agree with you on the prospects of the other candidates.
Ron Paul is not at 1%.
Clinton, Giuliani lead in national polling (RON PAUL NOW UP TO 6% amongst Republican Women!)
Amongst declared GOP candidates, Ron Paul is already in 4th place after Rudy, McCain, and Romney. Already ahead of Tommy Thompson, Huckabee, Hunter, Tancredo, and Gilmore.
McCain and Romney have stalled; Ron Paul is rising. Most recent national polling data.