You go to elections with the candidates you have...

... not the candidates you might want.

That seems to be the general message from the results of the latest Rassmussen Report, which shows that Americans in general are less than pleased with the candidates being offered by both parties. In fact, only one candidate from the entire field gets a favorable rating over 50%.

One impact of the long run-up to Election 2008 can be seen in public perceptions of the leading Presidential candidates. After a year of campaigning with no votes actually being cast, only one candidate in either party is now viewed favorably by more than half the nation’s voters. Stunningly, especially given the status of his campaign six months ago, that candidate is John McCain.

The Arizona Senator is now viewed favorably by 53% of all voters (a total boosted by the fact that 56% of those not affiliated with the major parties have a positive opinion of him. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of voters nationwide have an unfavorable opinion of him. Last summer, following the Senate debate on immigration, McCain’s stock had sunk so low that he was viewed favorably by fewer than half the voters in his home state. But, he has recovered in the latest Arizona polling as well as nationally.

John McCain's resurrection after being left for road kill last summer has been pretty shocking. So it's probably not much of a surprise that he's getting these kind of favorability numbers. Nobody else is breaking fifty percent. Edwards is close at 49, Hillary is right behind at 48, and Obama seems to be sinking at 43. On the GOP side the real loser seems to be Rudy who has plummeted from numbers in the sixties viewing him favorably to a solid 55% viewing him unfavorably with favorable numbers in the thirties. Of course, Ron predicted this very early on, saying that once the skeletons began coming out of Rudy's closet people would begin distancing themselves from him.

McCain is looking good right now in a couple of the early primary and caucus states, but his numbers for Super Tuesday still look pretty dismal. Is he turning into the John Edwards of the GOP? They both may be the people who are the most electable in the general election, but might not be able to muster the support needed to be the nominee.