Election '08 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Currently I see McCain, Giuliani, Allen, and Romney as the four front-runners and thus I focused on them for now. Most of the others currently speculated as potential candidates have either taken themselves out of the race (Jeb Bush, Condi Rice) or I deem to have little chance (Hagel, Brownback) so that I'm not going to bother with trying to figure out their potential game plan. If the situation changes I will update this as necessary, of course.

It looks like we have two conservative candidates, Allen and Romney, and two moderates, McCain and Giuliani. The first battle will be within the factions to knock their top competitor out and solidify their faction behind them. Whomever succeeds in uniting his faction first, the right or the moderates, will ultimately clinch the nomination. You can expect a particularly bloody fight between Allen and Romney, as Allen will seek to portray Romney as a faux conservative and Romney attacks Allen as an inside-the-beltway out-of-touch politician.

I have a hard time seeing Giuliani and McCain attacking each other with the same ferocity, which in the end could doom their candidacies if they split the moderate vote between each other. Conversly, if the battle between Romney and Allen turns too bloody they both could lose votes to Giuliani and McCain, who will appear more presidential by comparison.