Below is the December 2016 list of 2016 Republican presidential candidates in roughly the order of most likely to be nominated to least likely. The strengths and weaknesses of each one in the primaries are listed. Note that what is a strength in the primaries may be a weakness in the general election and vice versa. For example, Donald Trump is anti-immigrant, which may help him in the primaries but hurt him in the general election.

Candidate	Advantages in Primaries	Disadvantages in Primaries
Marco Rubio	American-dream type biography Can get votes from all wings of the party Young and telegenic, sort of like Jack Kennedy Very charismatic and likable From the mother of all swing states Sounds presidential when delivering talking points Currently winning the "endorsement" primary Surprised with strong finish in Iowa Establishment may soon pull out all the stops for him	Not leading in any early state Has misrepresented elements of his biography First-term senator Something of a lightweight on policy Supported immigration bill before he opposed it Doesn't do well when going off-script Personal finances raise a lot of questions Help for felonious brother-in-law raises a lot of questions Seems more suited to the second slot
Donald Trump	Loved by "poke-'em-in-the-eye" voters Has been atop the polls for months Actually created thousands of jobs Can't be bribed, could self-fund Says things no one else dares to say Not a politician Brilliant self-promoter The most famous Republican candidate Looking good in New Hampshire	Would be crushed by Clinton Establishment will do anything to stop him Used to be fairly liberal Not exactly sure where the Middle East is Demeaned John McCain's war record Lots of sexist and racist remarks His hair gets more attention than Hillary's The most infamous Republican candidate Second-place finish in Iowa cost him some momentum
Ted Cruz	Won Iowa Republican establishment hates him Called Mitch McConnell a liar Tea party darling Young, fiery, and very conservative Surprisingly good at fund raising Excellent speaker and debater Well organized in Super Tuesday states Using his outspoken father Rafael to great effect	Winning Iowa often means very little; ask Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee Republican establishment hates him First-term senator For a first-term senator, has a lot of enemies Has more enemies than most six-term senators Not very likable Masterminded the 2013 government shutdown Too establishment for some outsider voters Too outsider for some establishment voters Are evangelical voters enough to take the nomination?
John Kasich	Could be establishment fallback if he finishes well in NH and Rubio stumbles Twice elected in swing state of Ohio Would win some Democrats in general election	Not well known Running on competence, not ideology Said St. Peter likes poor people Supported Medicaid expansion, Common Core in Ohio Has performed poorly in debates
Jeb Bush	Establishment likes him Executive experience galore Huge, battle-tested field operation Also from the mother of all swing states Scion of a prominent, powerful political dynasty Super PAC has more money than Uncle Scrooge Lots of endorsements	Grassroots hates him Weak campaigner, keeps inserting foot in mouth Has to defend his unpopular brother Wrong positions on immigration & Common Core Married to a Latina Barbara Bush: "We've had enough Bushes" Jeb can fix it? Not so far. The donations have dried up Many of the voters who put him into the governor's mansion are dead Endorsers look ready to jump ship, once Poppy Bush gives his approval
Chris Christie	Aggressive character Ran the RGA well; popular with governors Won election twice in a blue state Would be acceptable to GOP establishment Endorsed by New Hampshire Union Leader	Polling badly in home state Hugged Obama Has only recently "discovered" he's ultraconservative Too many establishment candidates in line in front of him Last fat President was William Howard Taft; but White House bathtub is bigger now Lambasted by Newark, NJ Star-Ledger We'll cross that bridge when we come to it—if it is open
Carly Fiorina	Ran a Fortune 500 company Can attack Clinton without being called sexist Took on liberal icon Barbara Boxer in 2010 Self-made multimillionaire Could self fund in the primaries for a while Good debater Not a politician	Was fired from a Fortune 500 Company Got $20 million severance when fired Was crushed by liberal icon Barbara Boxer in 2010 No political experience Barebones political operation Not raising enough money Barely registering in the polls any more No more debate invitations will be forthcoming
Ben Carson	Devoted following Was polling very well for a while A more polite version of Donald Trump Not a politician Married to the same woman for 40 years Allows racist voters to say they are not racist	Prone to gaffes His numbers are trending downward He's black in a nearly all white party Never held public office Not a dynamic speaker or debater Not politically savvy Campaign staff is in disarray Very weak on foreign policy Does he want to be president or just sell books?
Jim Gilmore	Nobody hates him	Nobody ever heard of him Lost 2008 Senate race to Mark Warner by 31 points British bookies give the ineligible Arnold Schwarzenegger better odds Not allowed into the Republican debates without a ticket Would only need to remove one shoe to count his vote total in Iowa