Insiders Higher on Romney

My anonymous source in Washington clued me into the newest version of the National Journal's 2008 Republican Insiders Poll. This time, they asked 100 Republican insiders -- Congressmen and other political types -- to rank potential candidates' chances of winning their party's presidential nomination. I commented on the April edition of the insiders poll, where our favorite Governor, Mitt Romney ranked fifth. This time, the gov jumped up to third, behind Senators George Allen and John McCain. Here are the top ten on the Republican side, according to those inside the Beltway, from the poll (PDF):

Rank	Candidate	Points	First-Place Votes
1.	George Allen	365	(39)
2.	John McCain	337	(38)
3.	Mitt Romney	168	(4)
4.	Rudy Giuliani	149	(7)
5.	Bill Frist	93	(1)
6.	Haley Barbour	92	(0)
7.	Condoleezza Rice	61	(4)
8.	George Pataki	39	(2)
9.	Newt Gingrich	37	(0)
10.	Chuck Hagel	35	(1)

Notice, however, that Romney jumped up in rank even though his point total actually decreased slightly from the last time. I think a lot of that might have to do with Senator Bill Frist's falling stock more than anything Romney himself has done. Hopefully, this won't all go to the Governor's head. The National Journal also reports that the most recent polling of Republicans voters has Mitt clocking in at a whopping 2% -- just below "Other" and "None". Here's what one insider had to say about the Governor:

"Regardless of his record, our base will wonder what in the heck he had to do to become governor of the Kennedy-Dukakis state."

The National Journal also polled Democratic insiderts, and among them the Bay State's other 2008 Presidential contender, Senator John Kerry, fared less well, dropping from fifth last time to eighth in this incarnation of the poll. Predictably, among the insiders, Senator Hillary Clinton towers over the rest of the Democratic field.