More Radio

Not to be outdone by his New York counterpart Rudy Giuliani is airing Radio ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. One notable difference is that 21st Century Freedom PAC sponsored George Pataki's ads while the Draft Giuliani camp is paying for Rudy's.

Here's the text of the ad:

At times of crisis, Americans look to their leaders for strength, hope, and leadership. Five years ago, Americans looked to our president first, but we also looked to another man to help guide us through the darkness, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He wasn't just the mayor of New York, he was America's mayor . . . Rudy Giuliani has shown us what it takes to lead in the toughest of circumstances.

As America begins to focus on who will be our next president, we want change. We want someone who will rise above partisan politics and get things done . . . Please join us in asking Rudy Giuliani to run for president of the United States. We need his steady hand and his steadfast leadership. Sign a petition to draft Rudy Giuliani for President at draftrudygiuliani.com.

Tony Leys for President? "Why Not?"

Apparently Tommy Thompson thinks he's running for President.

We're not sure what's more telling about Tommy Thompson's revelation: that the story was broken in the Des Moines Register by Tony Leys or that the phrase "Why Not" was prominently involved.

Tony Leys? Who the hell is that. We at the Cooler have spent the last 15 months religiously reading political articles in the Register and have never seen this guys byline before today. Also in reflecting the seriousness with which the Iowa "Paper of Record" takes Thompson's candidacy they gave the story 5 grafs.

Thompson then goes on to make this announcement by saying, "I hope so, “Why not? I’m from the Midwest. There should be a Midwestern candidate for president.”

That's a real sign of strength when you are making a bid for the Presidency.

He thinks the two top issues will be health care and energy- we think he might be overlooking the War on Terror.

We find the guys who float their name for President just to stay relevant quite amusing.

Hodgepodge

• John McCain will formally open his Presidential exploratory committee tomorrow morning. His website, exploremccain.com will stream his speeches to the Federalist Society and GOPAC tomorrow.
• The Hotline adds: Today, McCain endorsed Rep. John Shadegg's minority whip bid, and a key ally, Trent Lott, was elected to the number two position among Senate Republicans. Another McCain ally, Sen. Mel Martinez, was recommended by Pres. Bush to be RNC chair.
• According to sources over at Race42008 GOP media strategist Alex Castellanos is joining the Commonwealth PAC. Read more here.

Also there's been a lot of buzz around the Cooler about 08 hirings in Iowa. Once we get some hard facts, you'll hear from us.

Rudy's Running

According to The Fix, Rudy has opened an exploratory committee in New York.

As Chris says, more to come..

Krusty's Going Krazy

Over at Krusty Konservative, the blogosphere's favorite klown has this to say about the 08ers.

With Allen’s absence from the race Konservatives lack a viable kandidate in 2008. While McCain, Giuliani, Frist, and Pataki tell us how konservative they are; the konservative activists in Iowa are not buying it because they all have questionable records. Mitt Romney has made inroads with konservatives in Iowa, but his past komments about abortion raise some red flags. Mike Huckabee is great on the social issues, but gives some konservatives heartburn on immigration and fiscal issues.

In a time when our party is searching for a new voice, the options listed above don’t get me very excited.

We at the Kooler think that Krusty needs to step away from the extreme right-wing kool-aid. For some reason konservatives like to be revisionist historians when it komes to our Presidential kandidates.

W. won election as a "compassionate conservative." Someone who worked with members of both parties in Texas to achieve success. One of the issues he talked about most, if not his top issue, was education- and not vouchers or shutting down the Dept. of Ed but "leaving no child behind" and nationalizing education standards. George W's position on abortion was cloudy. It seemed like he was pro-life but he never clearly said it, always answering the question by talking about judges.

His father was clearly a moderate when he ran in 88.

Reagan won with "Reagan Democrats." He was not an anti-abortion zealot. He appointed moderate judges. Gay marriage wasn't a hot button issue and he was by todays GOP standards a moderate on immigration.

It seems to us that the only kandidate that Krusty would be satisfied with is Steve King or Alan Keyes or Gary Bauer or Pat Buchanan. Is that really the route the party wants to go?

The entire Cooler staff is pro-life. We are all very konservative when in comes to fiscal issues and security. But part of being konservative is being pragmatic. There's a reason that for 20 of 28 years the GOP has held the White House. We didn't nominate people like Michael Dukakis or John Kerry. Do we want to make that mistake this time?

Discuss.

Drafting Gilmore

We recently received the following email from the Draft Gilmore contingent. We at the Cooler have made our doubts about a Gilmore candidacy very clear. This email did not do much to persuade us otherwise. For those that have doubts that JG is sticking his toe in the waters, his multiple trips to Iowa, attempts to hire staff, and the following e-appeal will certainly persuade you otherwise.

On November 7, 2006 Republicans suffered their largest setback in years. Despite the jubilant declarations of Nancy Pelosi and Co., this is not the result of a wave of Democratic support. This is the American people voicing their opposition to the Republicans who have turned away from their principles. Already, armchair-pundits have crowned Republican presidential frontrunners as those responsible for the increasing deficits, pork-barrel spending, and Republican loses across the nation. Republican Party faithfuls have also joined in the finger pointing. It is time for the Republican Party to nominate someone detached from the catastrophe. It is time we nominate someone who can unite the Party under conservative ideals once again. Governor James S. Gilmore of Virginia is the sole candidate who can step up to the plate and lead the Republican Party back to their core principles. Governor Gilmore will stand strong against pork-barrel spending, higher taxes, and government corruption. Governor Gilmore will enact true immigration reform and secure our borders.

The Gilmore folks should probably do some spell check before sending out future emails.