What about Rudy?

We haven't had a whole lot of Rudy content on the blog since our return, so we thought it would be a good time to take a look at his Iowa efforts.

Rudy's Iowa strategy is working to an extent, largely thanks to the fact that the Iowa and national media are letting him get away with it. What's his strategy you ask?

Quietly build a strong organization in the state, spend money on mail and radio, cruise to a strong finish and on caucus night say, "look at how well I did without even trying." As part of this strategy he is making astonishingly few public appearances in the state. (For whatever reason it seems like McCain gets a lot more grief from the Gang of 500 on this than Rudy does).

In the past few weeks, Rudy's only appearances here were on debate day. Following the debate he held an event in Valley Junction and then jumped off to Crapids (his favorite stomping ground in the state). The reason his schedule is so light is because it reinforces Rudy's campaign message that they aren't really trying in Iowa.

But is that message true?

We've gotten more mail from Rudy at Cooler HQ than any other candidate. We counted 13 pieces so far. His staff in the state is full of Bush veterans and they have nearly as many boots on the ground as Romney at this point. And Rudy's been on radio since September, as anybody who listens to Jan knows.. So the reality on the ground isn't quite as barebones as Duhaime and crew would have you think..

Kudos to team Rudy for playing the game right. It is quite surprising though that the national media is letting the nominations front runner get away with it...