Lots of Krap

We've got so much we want to post on that we're going to lump it all right here and you can comment away at the bottom.

• Mitt Romney picking an odd time to start surveying GOPers in the Palmetto State. Romney sent more than 1,000 Republicans in the state a glossy, eight-page brochure that reads like a campaign solicitation and lays out what amounts to a 10-point plan to reinvorgating the conservative movement. The 10/30-dated latter includes a message-testing "State of South Carolina Survey" that asks recipients to agree or disagree with 20 issue statements. Strange timing, but otherwise the kind of thing we can expect from these guys in the near future. Anybody want to chime in on why they chose the week before the midterms for this? Read more on the Hotline.

• Fun Story on Obama v. McCain on MSNBC. McCain spent an entire day campaigning for Tim Pawlenty, who will likely endorse McCain and has been speculated as a VP match- if Pawlenty can survive the Democrat wave of 06. Meanwhile, Obama was campaigning for Democrats in Rochester, Minnesota. This match-up would be the MSM's dream and Tom Curry has the preview.

• Mike Huckabee is appearing in a campaign ad this week for soon to be former Gubernatorial Candidate Asa Hutchinson. Huckabee levels some peripheral corruption charges at soon to be Governor Mike Beebe and trots out the old "Balance of Power" argument for Asa. Read more at Arkansasnews.com

• Iowapolitics.com has a fun pre-election predictions game. Check it out.

Line update to come hopefully over the weekend.

If he Will's it

George Will echoes an argument we've made at the Cooler for quite sometime. George Allen's demise is Willard Romney's gain.

"When the current President Bush completes his full second term, it will be the first time since James Madison and James Monroe almost two hundred years ago that back-to-back presidents both served all eight years of two elected terms. Put another way, two of the most divisive figures in this country's history will have commanded the White House for sixteen consecutive years."

Such circumstances should entice many aspirants into the race. Yet with Allen much diminished and perhaps out of contention, and with Rudy Giuliani not yet doing serious groundwork for a national campaign, the Republican field is already down to two. That is good for only one of them: Romney.

Dr. is back

What's the best way to make sure the Gang of 50 sees your candidate's schedule. Burton Rider and Brian Kennedy know the answer to that--- email it to the tipjar. caucuscoolertipjar@gmail.com. Feel free to send us your thoughts, comments, or anything else as well.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will return to Iowa on November 1st and 2nd. Senator Frist will also attend book signings featuring his wife Karyn Frist and her new book Love You, Daddy Boy: Daughters Honor the Fathers They Love.

Wednesday, November 1st

9:30 AM Get Out the Vote Press Conference
Luciano’s Restaurant
1019th 4th Street
Sioux City

7:00 PM Book Signing w/ Karyn Frist
Barnes and Noble Bookstore
The Shops at Three Fountains
4550 University Avenue
West Des Moines

Thursday, November 2nd

10:00 AM Get Out the Vote Press Conference
w/ New York Governor George Pataki
Scott County GOP Headquarters
3390 Utica Ridge Road
Bettendorf

1:15 PM Tour Linn County GOP Phone Center
w/ Statehouse candidate Emma Nemecek
2720 1st Avenue, NE
Cedar Rapids

7:00 PM Book Signing w/ Karyn Frist
Hastings Book Store
620 Lincoln Way
Ames

8:30 PM Visit Story County GOP Headquarters
405 Northwestern Avenue
Ames

We guess wives and books are the new in thing.


ALSO- For all those people who have made requests with links, updates to the line, and what not. We're getting to it. Trying to turn out the vote for Nussle, Whalen, Lamberti, Rants, and Lundby first.

Expect a gradual site revamp following the midterms. And keep your predictions coming in the below thread.

Open Thread

The Cooler staffs swamped on halloween..

So let's do a nonpresidential open thread. Predict what happens next tuesday in the midterms...

We'll start

Speaker Pelosi (18-21 seats)
Leader McConnell (tied)
Speaker Rants (holds at 51)
Leader Gronstal (27-23)
Your turn..

Hodgepodge

First we'd like to say that the Cooler staff has been busy the last 4 days helping various Iowa GOPers get elected. That will likely continue through the 7th, so expect light output from us over the next week or so and the Cooler will start ramping up with the wannabees sometime in Mid-November. We'll make a concerted effort to get a post up every day to satiate your appetite in the meantime
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1. Thanks to the tipster who alerted us to the fact that McCain has inked Evan "Curly" Hultman of Waterloo and Richard Goebel of Dubuque to head up the veterans for McCain group here in Iowa. Hultman was the Attorney General of Iowa and he was the state veterans chairman for BC04.

Goebel is the state commander of the VFW.

These are two of the major players in the veterans community here in Iowa. Hultman is particularly well thought of in GOP circles.

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2. Here's some fun news. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is running for President. Hunter is the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He's been in Congress for 26 years.

"This is going to be a long road, it's a challenging road, there's going to be some rough and tumble, but I think it's the right thing to do for our country,"

Watch out Jim Gilmore. Rep. Hunter's coming after you.

Here's a link from the South Carolina Hotline with more on Duncan Hunter.

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3. Keep your eyes out for a line update with Gilmore and Hunter later this week. That's all for now.