Rudy's Camp Beseeches Donors

Rudy rakes in $17M, but Q2's a downer for the GOP

(NEWSER) - Score one for America's mayor: Rudy Giuliani was the top Republican fundraiser in the second quarter, pulling in nearly $3 million more than runner-up Mitt Romney. Giuliani raised $17M; Romney added $6.5M of his own money to a $14M take. John McCain brought in only $11M, widening the cash gap with the two front-runners. More»

He's at the top in the first four, with Cain second

(NEWSER) - A CNN/Time survey of the first four states to vote bodes well for Mitt Romney. He leads them all, though Herman Cain is within a whisker in Iowa and South Carolina. A quick look at the top two in the state polls:

• Iowa (Jan. 3): Romney, 24%; Cain, 21%
• New Hampshire (Jan. 10, maybe): Romney, 40%; Cain, 13%
• South Carolina (Jan. 21): Romney, 25%; Cain, 23%
• Florida (Jan. 31): Romney, 33%; Cain 18%

'We don't need to be New Hampshire's pinata': Nevada GOP chair

(NEWSER) - Talk about political inside baseball: Nevada restored order to the GOP's chaotic primary scheme today by agreeing to run its caucus in early February. Prodded by Mitt Romney's campaign, Nevada had slated its caucus for Jan. 14, but with half the Republican field promising a boycott, and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus personally showing up to sway Nevada Republicans, the state switched its caucus date to Feb. 4, Politico reports. More»

Forget about Pa.; focus on Virginia, Florida, FiveThirtyEight says

(NEWSER) - John McCain, the polls aren’t looking good and your running mate is being accused of going “rogue,” but Nate Silver has some advice on how you can still eke out a victory. “No razzle-dazzle here,” Silver writes for FiveThirtyEight, “McCain simply has to pick which states he and Sarah Palin can do the most good in.” To wit: More»

Candidates come calling as locals' influence widens

(NEWSER) - Average Joes moonlighting as political bloggers are wielding the power of kingmakers in tiny New Hampshire, and candidates—at least the second-tier—are noticing. Says a high school Latin teacher of his Blue Hampshire blog: “One minute I'm in the teachers' lounge making copies and the next I'm spending 30 minutes on the phone with Bill Richardson,” the Journal reports. More»