I participate with quite a few polling organizations, both political and consumer: Zogby Interactive, ISay Ipso, Harris Interactive and a few others.

Zogby contacted me today to ask about presidential candidates.

They asked me to rate Rudy Guliani, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich (whose inclusion actually surprised me ... pleasantly!) Joe Biden and Dennis Kucinich in relation to the following characteristics.

Perspectives - Does the candidate express the right point of view or values to be President?
Potential - Does the candidate have 'star performer achievements' at another level or in another arena that you think translates into being a good President?
Passion - Does the candidate have the drive and determination to be President?
Passages - Does the candidate have the right kinds of past experiences to prepare him/her to be President?
Patronage - Does the candidate have sufficient connections to be President?
Presence - Does the candidate have the charisma to attract, captivate, and inspire?
PR - Does the candidate have enough positive 'buzz' to command media attention?
Pedigree - Does the candidate come from the right background to be President?
Pursuits - Does the candidate's recreational activities allow her/him to connect with Americans?
Package - Does the candidate look like a President to you?

The task was to assign each candidate a number from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) for each characteristic. The also included the options of "Don't know" and "None"

Before I was asked to rate the candidates I was asked to assign each characteristic a value of importance using the same 1 to 10 scale BUT only using each number once.

It was an interesting exercise and one I thought you might enjoy.

Rate... and rant... away!