Kooky Kucinich, Cold Clinton, and Activist Al

Forbes.com recently published a few articles ranking presidential candidates based on Kookiness, Coldness, and Activism. The results were, as the title indicates, very predictable. What's interesting is the buzz being generated by Democratic presidential candidates. The number one position in each poll was held by a Democrat.

From Forbes:

"The top six slots in this category (activists) are all held by Democrats. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani claims the honor of most activist Republican but is seventh overall."

The top six activist slots are held by Dems...Wow! In order after Gore comes Clinton, Obama, Kucinich, Edwards, and Richardson. At the bottom of the list is Fred Thompson (surprise surprise). But what do you expect from a failed senator turned actor?

At the top of the coldest list is Clinton. Newt Gingrich (who isn't really running), clocked in as the coldest Republican, followed by Romney. The bottom of the cold list should come as no surprise; the bottom two democratic candidates in terms of coldness are Obama and Richardson. The article draws parallels between low coldness and high appeal, which could indicate that Clinton's polling numbers are inflated. Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani are the least cold Republicans (and they have high appeal).

In terms of the most kooky-wacky, Kucinich wins in a land slide. (Is he running for president of the US or president of Middle earth??) What I find surprising is that Al Gore came in second, followed by Clinton and then Republican McCain. The way McCain's been acting recently, I'd have pegged him second or third. In my opinion Al Gore should be at the bottom of the list. Instead, Fred Thompson and Mike Bloomberg hold the bottom spots.

Does this mean that activism equals kooky-wacky?

Seventy Percent Say Economy Worsening

From Gallup comes this latest poll showing that seven out of ten Americans believes the economy is getting worse:

"The perception that the U.S. economy is getting worse has now reached as high a level as at any point since 2001. Seventy percent of Americans say conditions are getting worse. While this is statistically similar to the 67% saying this last month, it is up 10 points since April."

Ten points since April is a big jump in a small amount of time, and it's a great indicator of the economic conditions for the majority of the country. Don't forget that 2001 was a year of recession, and although 9/11 played a role in the economic recession, it didn't play a role in the pessimistic view people held back then:

"The last time Americans held such negative views was in early September 2001, just before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11."

We shall see if the majority of Americans are right or wrong about the economy in the coming months. Either seventy percent of the population influences markets or thirty percent does. So far, it's been the thirty percent.