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Rachel Maddow drew some parallels between the 2008 and 2012 Republican races for president using paper cut-outs of all their heads on Wednesday.
The MSNBC host had pictures of all the 2008 candidates' faces attached to sticks, which she lined up on her desk. She called McCain the "boring" candidate who was "hated by the base." His challengers were Mike Huckabee (the "social conservative guy") Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani (who has been married three times), and Fred Thompson (the one-time "dream candidate" who rose to the top of the polls and "then almost instantly collapsed").
Maddow said that Giuliani, Thompson and Huckabee enjoyed some brief success, but McCain "inherits the nomination" and loses. "That appears how the Republican party is doing it this year," she claimed.
Then one-by-one, she flipped over each 2008 candidate's picture to reveal his 2012 replacement. She said "the Republican establishment elite candidate" is Mitt Romney, the "does good in Iowa social conservative" is Rick Santorum, the "thrice-married guy" is Newt Gingrich, the "supposed superstar" who becomes a laughing stock is Rick Perry, and "Ron Paul is Ron Paul."
She was referring to a recent Slate piece that compared the two primaries. Watch Maddow having fun with the GOP candidates in the clip above.