Rudy gets Nussle
I keep hearing that Rudy will have a good Iowa operation. Hiring Jim Nussle is a good start. I bet some people in Iowa have whiplash.
Media
The downside of the Giuliani/WSJ piece and Bush’s problem
Yesterday I praised some of the ideas behind Rudy Giuliani’s WSJ piece. However, some people have responded that it demonstrated a sort of smallness of vision. Dick Morris has just written on precisely this, and I think that it speaks to Rudy’s weakness: In President Bush’s speech on Wednesday night, Read more…
Giuliani/Gingrich WSJ/Iraq op-ed
On Friday, Rudy Giulaini and Newt Gingrich published an op-ed on Iraq in the Wall Street Journal. This was very interesting from several perspectives. First, Rudy misplayed the Iraq issue. He came out with a statement on the President’s surge proposal relatively late. And he has not demonstrated any particular Read more…
Does Rudy® have cold feet?
I’ve seen two posts now suggesting that Rudy Giuliani may consider dropping out. Political Insider says that the Mayor just hasn’t made up his mind yet. And in an article on McCain locking up SC donors, LJ of Race42008 says of Rudy: The way the Republican primary schedule is shaping Read more…
Romney and Giuliani announce Finance and Communications teams
Mitt Romney announced a group of people from his national Finance Committee. Hotlineblog has good commentary that I’ll just quote: But one new name stands out: Ted Welch, the Tennessee investment banker who masterminded Sen. Lamar Alexander‘s (R-TN) $20 million haul in 1996 and who, since he the RNC’s finance Read more…
Rudy’s explanation about documents may not be working
A number of people have started to point out problems with the Rudy Giuliani camp’s explanation of what happened to their strategy binder, both strategically and factually. It strikes me that they are trying to make an issue of this to force an exposure of who gave it to the Read more…
Strategy
Giuliani plan leaked; what’s next for him?
Rudy Giuliani’s campaign plan was leaked. Outside the Beltway says that it is not a big deal, but I disagree. First of all, it shows places that Giuliani has failed to match his plan. For example: Two of the top figures on Giuliani’s list, New Jersey mega-fund-raisers Lew Eisenberg and Read more…
Strategy
Is Giuliani a national candidate or a regional one?
A couple of weeks ago, there was a theory floating around, perhaps started by Jonathan Martin at NRO and a couple of others, that Rudy Giuliani might not contest Iowa or New Hampshire. Now, since then, we have heard that Rudy is, indeed, staffing up in Iowa and New Hampshire. Read more…
Media
McCain Announces Finance Slots; Tries to Steal Giuliani’s Thunder
Rudy Giuliani has a fundraiser tonight. What does John McCain do? Same thing he did at the RGA meeting. He tries to steal the news/blog cycle by announcing his NY Finance Committee. This morning, before the announcement, McCain got people talking about his fundraising machine ("nearly 7 of 10 Bush Read more…
Giuliani gets good NH pickup
Word on the street is that Rudy Giuliani has hired Jeff Semprini to run New Hampshire. Jeff’s dad is the outgoing state party chair, Wayne Semprini.