National Journal ranks the Republicans running for the GOP nomination. There are some surprises. Mike Huckabee is ranked Number 4, while John McCain is ranked Number 5. Giuliani remains in first place--that is, National Journal believes that, for now, he is most likely to win the nomination. Is he? I certainly think there's a chance--in fact, a strong chance--that Giuliani eventually wins the 2008 GOP presidential race, but there's an equally strong chance that he doesn't. Which speaks to how, months before any actual voting occurs, this sort of ranking is irrelevant. The rankings are based "on a number of factors," says the National Journal, including "organization, money, buzz, and polling." Uh, huh. And how exactly does one quantify "buzz"? If "organization" and "money" are important, then why is Fred Thompson ranked Number Two and Romney Number Three? Thompson has little money and hardly any organization. A more direct accounting of the criteria involved in the rankings would say: "These rankings are ordered by likelihood of winning the Republican primary and are based on our gut feeling of how things stand at the moment."