Rudy Goes West

We reported yesterday that Giuliani sources indicated that the Mayor is tentatively scheduled to be in Des Moines on Election Eve. According to Republican Party of Iowa Chair Ray Hoffman, it looks like he may also be making a stop in Western Iowa. From yesterday's Sioux City Journal.

Sioux Cityan Hoffmann said western Iowa won't likely be the site of a campaign by Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney before the election, but confirmed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a person "right up there in excitement" in Republican circles, will appear in Sioux City before the election."I am just trying to nail down the time and place right now," Hoffmann said.

Caucus Calendar Updated

GOTV time is a popular time for the wannabees. Word around the Cooler is that Dr. Frist and Gov. Pataki will be visiting the Hawkeye State November 1st and 2nd. There is also some rumblings the Rudy will come into the state that weekend.

But we've been known to be wrong on Rudy buzz before.

(Whatever happened to the Cooler Mill anyway?)

We'll let you know if we hear from the others.

Update:

According to folks close to the Commonwealth PAC, Governor Romney will be in Iowa on Oct. 27 and 28 for several candidates and support for Nussle at "key" Republican HQs.

We've also caught wind that Rudy is tentatively scheduled to be in Des Moines on November 6th for a pre-election rally.

Not so fast Boston Globe

The Church of Latter Day Saints refutes the charges. Read all about it at our favorite website.

Clearly, the Globe is going to be a pain in Mitt's butt for the foreseeable future.

Mormons, Mitts, McCains and Marriage

We wanted to post on the big 08 buzz topics for today.

• a Boston Globe feature about Mitt's possibly too cozy relationship with the Mormon Church (as has been noted before the Globe is known for giving Mitt a hard time)
• McCain's gay marriage comments that some in the blogosphere have taken way out of context.

We don't have time to give our thoughts right now, but take a look at what the Hotline has to say about both HERE and we'll be back with an update later.

Update: Here's the Coolers take as posted in the comments with a little more context for both.

1. Clearly Romney is going to use Mormon organizations and infrastructure to help boost his campaign. Who wouldn't? It makes complete sense. That is a powerful tool for his nationwide organization. As a second point, clearly, the Boston Globe is not fair to Romney and will continue to be a thorn in his side. If some of the coordination is unethical then we'll believe it when the story expands out of the Globe. Until then it's not a story. At all.

2. McCain phrased his opinion in an awful way. And he's going to have to be more disciplined in the future. The fact is McCain's position on marriage has always been the same though. He's against it and supports the marriage amendment on a state level not a federal level. That's his position and that's basically what he said on hardball- just in a very poorly worded way. Some McCain haters are trying to make this into a bigger deal than it is.

Basically our opinion is the same as the good people at the Hotline who we steal content from everyday!!

Hardball Express

Sen. McCain was on the Hardball college tour straight out of Ames yesterday.

There wasn't much groundbreaking information that came out of the interview. Matthews said of McCain"most think he'll be the next President." McCain did a little pandering, predicting a Cyclones victory over Texas Tech this weekend (we are going to have to disagree on that one).

Asked when McCain would make a decision on 08 the Senator said, "after Thanksgiving" and Matthews replied "So, I'll call you on Friday then."

You can read the Register's recap here and the Hotline's here.

Just Shoot Me

While in Iowa today, John McCain had this to say about the possible (impending?) Democrat takeover in Congress.

"I think I'd just commit suicide. "

Seems a little drastic, but the prospect of Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi is enough to make all of us shudder. McCain is in Sioux City for Steve King and Des Moines for Jeff Lamberti today.

Political Radar

Mitt Romney predicted a Democrat majority in statehouses yesterday. Currently R's hold 28 Governor's seats to D's 22.

We'll certainly lose the lead," added Romney. When asked if there will be a majority of Democratic governors when the dust settles on election night, Romney responded, "Oh sure. Oh sure. I don't think there's anyone who has looked at the poll numbers who doesn't think that will happen."

One would think that at some point Romney will be criticized for the losses in Governorships, though, given the political climate, there is not much he could do. But it's one of those things about politics, if you are going to put yourself in a position, as RGA Chair, to get credit for things that go well you have to be willing to take some blame if (when) it goes poorly.

But if things don't get brighter for R's in the next 20 days, we at the Cooler are confident about one thing... There will be plenty of blame to go around.

Pataki's exit strategy

We reported a while back that Congressman John Sweeney was unhappy with Pataki's lack of focus on the New York GOP and the World Trade Center rebuilding effort. He pointed to Pataki's heavy travel schedule to early primary states. Now State Sen. Joe Bruno is leveling the same charge.

Bruno says, "when you have a Governor in exit mode that's a problem." He points to the huge electoral deficits facing Gubernatorial candidate John Faso, AG candidate Jeanine Pirro and Senate candidate John Spencer.

Pataki's response?

"While I'm sure it's nerve-racking not having George Pataki at the top of the ticket, we're not interested in engaging in pre-emptive scapegoating -- we are focused on winning the elections at hand," said Michael Marr, Pataki's press secretary.

It seems to us at the Cooler that the legacy you leave has to impact your Presidential chances to a certain extent. That effects Romney and Huckabee as well, since the Gubernatorial candidates aiming to succeed them in Massachusettes and Arkansas face impending defeat- by large margins we might add.

Huckabee in particular has escaped the accusation that he is abandoning the state party at its time of need. Pataki hasn't been so lucky. Eventually caucusgoers will have to look at the legacy Pataki has left with the New York GOP and they will find a fractured, broken party with no statewide elected officials. Is that entirely Pataki's fault? Absolutely not. But he is doing the worst job of the 3 Governors in handling the media and chattering class perception of the issue.

Will Governors' Eliot Spitzer, Deveal Patrick, and Mike Beebe hurt Governors' Pataki, Romney, and Huckabee's bid for the Presidency? A lot will depend on how each man handles the fallout and right now Pataki seems to be in need of some damage control.

PACing in the cash

Jon Roos delivers the must read of the day in the Des Moines Register. He covers the Presidential PAC contributions in Iowa to date. On the R side Romney leads the way. Here are some notable excerpts.

Among Republicans testing the presidential waters, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney tops the donor list. His Commonwealth PAC has pumped about $370,000 into Iowa campaigns. The majority of the contributions have gone to legislative candidates.

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, has already given $75,700 through his Straight Talk America political action committee, according to a Des Moines Register analysis of PAC contribution reports filed with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

"Senator McCain's leadership and experience will be invaluable to our efforts to regain control of the Iowa Senate," said state Sen. Larry McKibben of Marshalltown, one of a dozen Republican legislators who recently signed on with McCain to help the prospective presidential candidate organize as he explores a 2008 campaign.

Donations are also flowing into the campaign coffers of Iowa candidates from the PACs of these other Republicans: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, New York Gov. George Pataki, Sen. George Allen of Virginia and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. All have been mentioned as possible presidential candidates. Pataki beat his party rivals to the punch by being the first to open an Iowa office for his PAC.

Roos ignores the fact that Romney opened up offices with Nussle, a notable oversight.

The most interesting thing though to the Cooler, was the gap between Warner and the nearest Dem rival. It makes Warners quick departure even more stunning considering that he outdonated (don't think that's a word) everyone on either side.

Sniffing Kay's Potpourri

Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa has an interesting blog entry about the Jefferson Jackson Dinner, John Edwards trip last week, and John McCain's upcoming trip. Check it out.

Here are some interesting excerpts.

When Clinton entered the room to take the stage, some people in the back of the room actually stood on their chairs to get a better glimpse. After Clinton's 50 minute speech, Democrats did their traditional begging-for-cash schtick. Harkin got Clinton to donate his tie, and long-time Democratic contributor Bill Knapp bought it for $3000.

Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards was in Iowa over the weekend and before his last appearance in Altoona, I told him I'd be speaking with his wife today about her book -- "Saving Graces" -- and asked him if he had a question to suggest.

"Ask her how much she loves her husband," Edwards suggested, laughing, then he continued: "I think you should ask her what it was like for her to go through the emotional experience of writing this book because I watched her up close writing this book and it was quite something to watch."

"Did it in any way parallel your own experience in writing your own book?" I asked. (Edwards wrote a book -- Four Trials -- that mentions his son, Wade, and Wade's death in 1996. Most of the book, though, is about four cases Edwards worked on as a lawyer.)

"It was very different I think, in part, because she wrote at great length about a lot of the trauma of her life and it had a different impact because of that, so you should ask her about it," Edwards replied.

Hillary v. McCain again

The spotlight shines again on the MSM's anointed 08ers. This time the flap is over a comment made by a Clinton staff member.

Maureen Dowd quoted an anonymous adviser talking about McCain's criticism of the Clintons over their North Korea position.

The adviser said Team Clinton thought McCain was doing the White House's dirty work by criticizing the Clintons and ended up "looking similar to the way he did on those captive tapes from Hanoi, where he recited the names of his crewmates."

Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said, "These comments are reprehensible and they in no way reflect Senator Clinton's feelings." McCain spokesman John Weaver replied, "Senator Clinton is correct, the remark was reprehensible."

Last week, McCain took what many saw as the first shot of the 2008 race, blasting Clinton for placing blame for North Korea's recent nuclear test on President Bush - and pointed to husband Bill's policies as a "failure."

Catch the whole story here or on Drudge. The Hotline recaps here