Republican Strategery

The latest Rasmussen national poll shows Republicans thoroughly divided and not very happy: McCain leads with 17%, followed by Huckabee and Romney at 16%, Giuliani at 15%, Thompson at 12% and Paul at 7%. That's tight. And that's a lot of undecided voters--about a third.

That means the candidates will need to use some good strategery if they want to win. So how's that going?

Well, just for laughs, you might want to take a look at this unintentionally funny memo from Brent Seaborn, Rudy G's "Strategy Director," entitled "Rudy's National Campaign is Looking Good."

Talk about rose colored glasses, or drinking the Kool-aid! Right now, Giuliani is poised to come in fourth or fifth in Iowa and as low as sixth in New Hampshire. He won't do well in SC, or in the 'tweener contests--Michigan, Wyoming and Nevada. And his once large lead in Florida has evaporated, along with his smaller, but once steady, lead in national polls.

If that's "looking good" then Frankenstein was indeed a handsome man.

For a more dispassionate view, take a look at Dean Barnett's analysis in the Weakly Standard, "State of the Race." Barnett's got it right, taking both Thompson and Giuliani's political advisors to task, saying that Rudy's political people (that would be Mr. Seaborn, among others) "should have their licenses to politically consult suspended through the 2012 election."

Right now, it looks like it will come down to a mean, dirty fight between McCain and Romney, but with a good chance that neither will have enough delegates to win it outright.