GAMEDAY

Everyone can take a breather from politics for a little football.

LET'S GO HAWKS

Will be back with a recap tomorrow.

Labor Day Lineup

We at the Cooler are going to have a Labor Day weekend game that everyone can participate in. On Tuesday we're going to come out with a list of state legislators and who we think they will line up with in 08. Give us your best guesses in the comments or in the tipjar and we'll post them on Tuesday. Then everyone can tell us how stupid or how brilliant our projections are. So when you are out at the bar with your compatriots this weekend, pick their brain and see how many pairings you can come up with.

P.S. We're setting the over-under on Cox-Inman jokes at 13.

Have a restful and peaceful Labor Day, check back for some content over the weekend.

Could Yepsen be off his rocker?

Absolutely. David Yepsen asked this question of himself in yesterdays Des Moines Register.

Could 2008 be Biden's year? Absolutely.

In a world without Hillary Clinton, Mark Warner, John Edwards, Al Gore, Barak Obama, and probably even Tom Carper, Joe Biden could be the Democratic nominee.

In a world without all those mentioned above, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Jeb Bush and probably even Rick Perry, Joe Biden could be the President.

Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in. That world is occupied by David Yepsen alone.

Yepsen said "Biden's still got a few friends from 1988..." I'm sure Eugene McCarthy still has a few friends from 1972, doesn't make him viable.

Biden showed his viability back in 1988. If you don't remember Joe Kinnock err. Neil Biden's speech in 1988, you could probably ask former Biden staffer and current Huckabee stalwart Eric Woolsen (we had to needle you Eric)--- it wasn't good.

Biden's done his best to try to remind you this summer.

Proud that Delaware is a slave state. Check.
Insulting Indian Americans. Check
Calling those in the Southern part of his state "Slower Lower." Check.

Wait a minute, the more we at the Cooler think about it. You're right David, Biden is viable.

Romney/McCain/Pataki/Giuliani/Huckabee/Allen/Frist v. Biden has a nice ring to it.

Dr. Podcast

VOLPAC sent out this email to Iowans today. We are skeptical of podcasts, but it is in the mold of what Brian Kennedy did in the Primary so it makes sense.

IOWA UPDATE
August 29, 2006

Iowa Republican On-Line Campaign Kickoff LIVE Webcast featuring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Iowa GOP Ticket
Sponsored by Volunteer PAC Thursday, August 31st, 8PM CDT
Tonight (Thursday, August 31st) log on HERE at 8:00 PM CDT and join a LIVE Webcast featuring United States Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Iowa Republican ticket. Joining Senator Frist will be our next Governor Jim Nussle, Congressman Steve King, Congressional candidates Jeff Lamberti and Mike Whalen and Secretary of Agriculture candidate Bill Northey, along with Iowa Republican Chairman Ray Hoffmann, as they take your calls and kick-off the Iowa Republican On-Line campaign.
Listen to Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist and the Iowa GOP ticket LIVE, by logging on here Thursday night at 8:00PM CDT. Then join the discussion by calling in to this talk radio style program. Your calls will be taken at 563.583.2421 or email your questions to question@listenliveonline.com.

We really want to write on Yepsen's article today but are out of time. Check back for a report on his idiocy tomorrow.

George PaTAXi?

There are many who have questioned how Right to Life board members like Ed Failor Jr. and Loras Schulte could support a pro-choice candidate like Gov. Pataki. After reading this article, are they now going to question how an employee of Iowans for Tax Relief can support someone who has raised taxes?

Last evening, during a debate for Pataki’s successor, the two Democrat candidates and the Republican candidate had a common message: "New York under Governor Pataki is in decline."

While we at the Cooler were not surprised to read this, we were surprised at one of the reasons for the accusation. The candidates pointed to the rise of taxes, the exodus of residents, and the quality of health care and education.

A spokesman for Mr. Pataki, David Catalfamo, defended the governor's legacy, saying, "We are now the safest large state in America. We have one million less New Yorkers on welfare."

No comment was reported denying that taxes on New Yorkers have been raised. Maybe they are false accusations, if not I fear the Pataki camp has a lot of explaining to do.

McCain's Larsony

Chairman of the Commonwealth PAC Doug Gross made the television rounds last week, not to be outdone, Sen. Chuck Larson ducked into "The Big Show" with John Gibson to talk about Senator McCain's presidential ambitions (When Mrrs., Kennedy, Iverson, and Woolson head to the airwaves, we'll cover that as well). Here's a clip from his comments.

So, Mr. Larson, you already chose to join up with John McCain. There were a lot of people courting you. I have got a full screen just to illustrate to people who was after you. Look at this: Mitt Romney, George Pataki and John McCain. They were all breathing down your neck. You picked McCain. Why?

SEN. CHUCK LARSON, R-IOWA: John, No. 1 — it's good to be with you today — but for a couple of different reasons, No. 1, Sen. John McCain is a fiscal hawk. Secondly, he is a social conservative, with a 24-year pro-life voting record. But from my perspective, the most important issue, whether it's 2006 or 2008, is going to be national security and the global War on Terror. And Sen. McCain recognizes that we must win this war for our own nation's security.

GIBSON: Mr. Larson, why all this early maneuvering? It's more than two years out.

LARSON: Well, several of the candidates began reaching into Iowa early, visiting with activists, whatnot. I believe there is very strong interest in 2008 and carrying on President Bush's legacy for this nation.

Larson went on to do the usual Presidential two-step. Iowa is important because of Nussle, and that it's a swing state and we're focused on 06, etc... etc... etc... Here's the transcript of the interview.

It certainly benefits Romney and McCain to have spokesmen with the stature and capability to go on these programs and sell their candidates positions. Just another example of the benefits to getting a team put together early.

Update: Happy Birthday John McCain

Caught in a Webb

As Krusty would say

Holy Crap!

According to the most recent WSJ/Zogby poll, Jim Webb leads George Allen by 1 point. Now we at the Cooler understand that Zogby has been known to have some skewed results in the past, but this is the 2nd poll in a week that shows the race within the margin of error. And to the folks who will say ZOGBY IS BIASED TOWARDS DEMOCRATS, well take a look at the Jim Talent number (Talent +5).

Now, Allen has a huge cash advantage over Webb, as we have noted here in the past. And this race will likely come around for him. But this certainly accentuates our point below that Allen's Presidential ambitions have taken a beating during the macaca fall-out.

We're sure that Chad over at Commonwealth Conservative will have a refutation of this poll up at some point and we'll link to it when this happens.

The Big DG

Former Gubernatorial candidate and Chairman of Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC in Iowa, Doug Gross was on "The Insiders" this week as the Republican representative. For those that missed it, and those that are out of state, they discussed a wide-array of topics including Nussle, Lamberti, Iraq, CIETEC, and the Mauro's. The interesting part came at the end during the predictions section.

Gross predicted that Rudy Giuliani "would not get in the race unless McCain got out" and would likely "not run for President." He said that if Rudy were to enter, it would likely be at the very end of the campaign and he would ride in on his white horse. Gross reasoned that would give caucus goers less time to "vet" Rudy, and realize how liberal he is on social issues.

We at the Cooler don't believe Gross has any inside info, but it was interesting to hear his take. He also said that Romney's poll numbers in Iowa probably wouldn't shoot up for a while citing Thanksgiving 07 as "plenty early."

Interesting take from the Big DG.

Additionally Joe Biden stuck his foot in his mouth again. This time bragging that Delaware was a slave state. Here's the You-tube of another Biden gaffe.