GOP Front Runner?

By Stanford Matthews
Blog @ MoreWhat.com

Romney strategist Alex Gage has a new memo out arguing that his boss -- and NOT Giuliani -- should be referred to as the current GOP front-runner. While Gage acknowledges that Giuliani is still ahead in national polls, he notes that the ex-mayor has been losing support for months (using Pollster.com graphics to bolster his claim).

Rather than wondering why the Romney campaign strategist suggests Romney should be considered the GOP front runner the question should be what will happen as the primary election order draws closer and what effect Fred Thompson's entrance to the mix will have if he stops postponing his announcement?

The quote from an MSNBC report quoted above mentions Giuliani's campaign recently started acting like a campaign by issuing press releases and spending some money. Their report on McCain includes comments of the media piling on with additional critiques of the Senator's campaign and staff changes suspected of producing conflicts of interest. The brief reference to Thompson speaks to a staffer choice and a pro-abortion history not causing problems like water rolling off a duck's back.

Some questions to add to this report can start with how many Presidents in the last fifty years were former governors and how many were Senators? Another question is why is so much emphasis placed solely on South Carolina when results from Iowa and New Hampshire have equally important statistical histories? And last, could it be that this exceptionally long Presidential campaign season for 2008 has produced an unprecedented obsession for continuous measuring sticks on who is leading or will be the likely winner in 2008?

The important consideration for now is not to get ahead of ourselves. The next adjustment in measuring the positions of candidates will be, barring unexpected political tragedy or scandal, Thompson's announcement and the first few primary or caucus events. If and when Thompson announces, the anticipation will be over and the effect will probably disappoint fans and encourage competitors after the news settles and reality sets in. It will be no surprise on approach to the first voting event if things are substantially as they are now. Mostly Clinton and Obama on one side and Giuliani, Romney and Thompson on the other with a couple of lower tier surprises and another withdrawal or two.

OMG, how boring. Let's have a few more conspiracy theories or predictions on who will be President in 2009.