538 Graph: How The GOP Field Relates To Each Other

I'll let Nate Silver explain this himself:

One dimension is obvious: we can classify the candidates from left to right, from relatively more moderate to relatively more conservative. But another dimension that is often salient in the primaries, and perhaps especially so for Republicans next year, is what we might think of as the insider/outsider axis: whether the candidate is viewed as part of the Republican establishment, or as a critic of it.

There are two more kinds of information embedded in the chart. First, the area of each candidate’s circle is proportional to their perceived likelihood of winning the nomination, according to the Intrade betting market. Mitt Romney’s circle is drawn many times the size of the one for the relatively obscure talk-radio host Herman Cain because Intrade rates Mr. Romney many times as likely to be nominated.

Finally, the color of each circle reflects the region the candidate is from: blue for the Northeast, red for the South, green for the Midwest, and yellow for the West.

I think this is useful for one reason, and one reason alone. I don't necessarily typically agree with the Beltway crowd's labels on candidates, as a useful tool for looking at these primary fields for President. Rather, I think what matters is how they relate to voters, and the perception voters have of them. This is really, really important in these early states, where particularly, the perceptions amongst activists really matter. In the Iowa Caucus, having a core group of active supporters early on is as important as having a lot, hence why Mike Huckabee, who leads right now, isn't a lock to win. To be fair, Huckabee will have hard-core supporters too. This sort of shows why a Palin or Bachmann, or even a DeMint or Santorum, might be really appealing candidates, in the early states. New Hampshire and Iowa activists do this every four years, and winning them over might be more important at first than winning the masses.