White House 2008 Rankings: The Democrats

Each week, NBC News political director Chuck Todd and I present our rankings on the likely order of finish for the presidential candidates.

We're headed into an August stasis, so don't look for these numbers to change much over the next 30 days.

These rankings are ordered by likelihood of winning the Democratic primary and are based on a number of factors, including organization, money, buzz and polling. Click here for Republican rankings.

1. Hillary Clinton -- Tactics matter at this stage, and Clinton is running a better tactical campaign. There's just no other way to put it. The straw man spat with the Pentagon was proof of just how good their communications operation is. Very impressive.

2. Barack Obama -- Probably the best way to describe this campaign right now is that Clinton is going 75 mph; Obama is going 50 and has plenty of gas to spare. Obama looks like he can eventually go faster in his campaign car, but he's not doing it yet.

3. John Edwards -- At what point is Elizabeth Edwards becoming too involved? Or, because of Bill Clinton's shadow, will nobody ever dare to hold her against her husband?

4. Bill Richardson -- Richardson, once again, is making progress (in Iowa polls, in national polls) when the spotlight is shining elsewhere. Can he handle media attention? Our guess: not yet

5. Christopher Dodd -- Dodd's got money for Iowa and seems more determined than ever to stick it out. Hey, you never know, right?

6. Joseph Biden -- Biden has serious money problems. Can he really run an "I'll just show up for the debates" campaign? It worked Monday night, but come Tuesday...

7. Dennis Kucinich

8. Mike Gravel