On Monday, you met the prospects who never panned out. On Tuesday, we ran through the players who still haven’t quite made it out of the minors. Today, we look at the major leaguers: two big-money stars with All-Star resumes and a shot at winning it all.
So without further ado…
Round 3 — The Big Guns
1. Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney may be a Red Sox fan, but his campaign probably most resembles the New York Yankees: a big-spending perennial contender packed with accomplished veterans. With these assets, however, come sky high expectations that make anything less than total victory a disaster — and a source of incalculable schadenfreude for his rivals.
So far, however, Romney has mostly proven as solid as advertised on offense and defense alike. In the early going, his consistent economy-focused message put him into a promising two-person race with the much less polished Michele Bachmann. And while many thought his days were numbered after a surging Rick Perry leapt into the fray, he connected hard with hits to the Texas governor’s left (Social Security) and right (immigration) that confirmed once again that he’s still the most seasoned player out there.
Romney may be a solid .300 hitter, but he doesn’t put up the gaudy polling numbers one would expect from a superstar and his weaknesses on health care, immigration, and any number of evolving positions, are all extremely dangerous. There’s still plenty to fear from the various wild cards in the race.
Player Vitals
Entered the race: June 2, 2011
Best moment: Every debate.
Worst Moment: Every poll with Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, or Donald Trump in first place.
Best Quote: “Corporations are people, my friend.”
Endorsed by God?: Governor Perry should repudiate that question.
TPM Grade: Given his cash and experience, Romney has nothing to crow about until he wins the nomination. But there’s no question he’s stepped up his game since 2008 and established himself as the man to beat. That’s worth a strong B+.
2. Rick Perry
On paper, Rick Perry should already be the Republican nominee. He showed up late to the race as the great conservative hope who was supposed to finally do what none of the other candidates could: unite tea partiers, evangelicals, and big business under one banner. He even had a math-minded political guru who drew comparisons to Billy Beane in Moneyball — and everyone likes that movie, right?
Some prominent commentators predicted that all Perry had to do to win was not screw up. We’ll never know the truth of that theory, however, because he started screwing up almost immediately: showing up half-awake to debates, calling anti-immigration Republicans heartless, quintupling down on his most radioactive Social Security rhetoric, and more. Somehow he’s managed to convince Republican voters he’s a closet bleeding-heart liberal while completely alienating independent voters at the same time.
Perry’s got plenty of cash and the most executive experience in the field, so you can’t count him out until the very end. But his latest tactic of loudly appealing to birthers feels like the kind of move only a desperate candidate would pull.
Player Vitals
Entered the race: August 13, 2011
Best moment: The part before he officially announced his campaign.
Worst Moment: The part after he officially announced his campaign.
Best Quote: “Adios…mofo.”
Endorsed by God?: 100%, according to his wife.
TPM Grade:. You can’t fail him while he has $15 million to spend on a comeback, so we’ll be generous and give him a “D.” We’re not mad, Rick, we’re just disappointed.
