The First to Go: Five Republicans Who Won't Make it to 2016

There are currently seventeen people vying for the Republican Presidential nomination. That may not seem like much, but compared to the five Democrats, it appears chaotic. Chances are good that many will drop out before ever seeing a primary. Of course, it's too early to say anything for sure. A lot can change in the six months before the elections actually start. That said, here are five candidates whose campaigns likely won't see 2016.

Rick Santorum is the poor man's Mike Huckabee, with half the likeability, a quarter of the charisma, and a tenth of the charm. His brief rise in 2012 was a combination of shrewd delegate strategy and being the most widely palatable "Not-Romney" still standing and was not indicative of any strength in his candidacy. After a dismal performance in the JV debates, and a sputtering campaign that's losing the evangelicals to Huckabee, Santorum won't be around much longer.

I legitimately had no idea who Jim Gilmore was until the day of the first debate, and I follow politics pretty closely. The former governor of Virginia who also apparently ran in 2008, Gilmore has possibly the lowest name ID of anyone running. Though that can change overnight (as Carly Fiorina's recent rise demonstrates), there's nothing that stands out about Gilmore to warrant his continued presence in the field.

Lindsey Graham is distinguished only by his single-minded and rabid war hawk stance, and is probably only running to try to drag foreign policy to the most invasive and militaristic place he can. Well, that and his seething hatred for fellow Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, whom he has clashed with frequently over the past several years. Most Republicans, in the primary season at least, are happy enough to beat the war drum on their own without Graham's urging. 

George Pataki, the former governor of New York, is essentially the same as Jim Gilmore, except he feels justified in swinging around 9/11 whenever he wants. In the same sense that Santorum is a poor man's Huckabee, Pataki is just the slightly slimmer version of Chris Christie. Like Gilmore, he brings nothing new to the table, and lacks the requisite charm and charisma to stick it out for another six months.

Rick Perry, another failed candidate from the last round famous for his live implosion on-air, is back again for some inexplicable reason. Perhaps buying into the belief that it's easier to get the nomination the second time around (just look at John McCain and Mitt Romney), he's back again, changing absolutely nothing from four years ago. He may be one of the first to go, as he's already stopped paying his staff in the early primary state of South Carolina.

To survive in this early primary season, candidates need money, strong grassroots support, or both. These five men have neither.