Rudy Giuliani

Thanks for the memories. Now please go away. Yes, we’re talking about you, Rudy Giuliani. And you, Wolf Blitzer. We no longer wish to be a swing state. Henceforth the residents of the state of Minnesota promise to vote reliably Democratic. Or Republican. It doesn’t much matter which — just as long as you people promise to stop showing up in our little slice of the frozen tundra seeking to feel our pain. But to memorialize the horrors visited upon us during the (still ongoing) campaign season, we offer — in honor of our favorite member of the Statewide General Election Canvassing Board — the G. Barry Anderson Awards.

Nine Minnesotans made Forbes’ richest Americans list this year. Most of them are peeling off small-fractions of their wealth to support political parties and candidates for national office–shoveling a total of $245,000 into the game since Election Day 2006. A little number crunching turns up a few surprises, like conservative broadcasting magnate Stanley Hubbard giving more to Senator Amy Klobuchar than he did to Norm Coleman.

Over at Salon, Avi Steinberg has written a highly entertaining account of his time patrolling the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis, headquarters of the Republican National Convention, for a (unnamed) private security firm. He explores the perils of tight pants and Sarah Palin, the noshing habits of secret service officers and the unexpected joys of chanting “Rudy! [...]

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney easily won Nevada’s Republican caucuses, while New York Sen. Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to win the Democratic caucuses in that state.

With approximately 80 percent of precincts reporting, Romney had won 53 percent of a Republican straw ballot.  Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was in second place with [...]

Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary brought a stunning upset on the Democratic side and a rebirth of campaigns on both sides of the aisle.  And needless to say, that has bloggers chattering this morning.

“The more she’s attacked on personal grounds, the more sympathy that real person will generate.”

The shocking upset win of New York Sen. Hillary [...]

A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee opening up a small lead over his competitors for the Republican presidential nomination.

Huckabee received the support of 25 percent of respondents in the poll, five percentage points ahead of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.  Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., received the support of [...]

[Commentary]

And so it was that the candidates departed the cornfields of Iowa for the Granite State, where they would again go into small cafes and blueberry festivals.  They’ll go to the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee and the convenience stores of Nashua, and then they will stand for election in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary, if [...]

The victories of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas in the Democratic and Republican Iowa caucuses, respectively, have naturally led to a great deal of discussion throughout the blogosphere.  While most liberal sites, even those of anti-Obama bloggers, were generally congratulatory toward Obama, conservative sites splintered between those that [...]

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., holds a lead over all her major Republican rivals, according to a new Gallup poll taken earlier this month.

Clinton widened her lead over the four major Republican candidates she was matched up against.  Her widest lead was over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who she led 54 percent to 38 percent.  [...]

Part of every presidential campaign is the constant effort to prove to the candidate’s base that the candidate can keep the opposition on the defensive and capture states that went the other way last time around.

To that end, Rudy Giuliani said this morning that he was the Republican to break a 35-year streak of Democratic [...]