Right Wing Net: The War for online voters

Here we see Google Trends' comparison between Fred Thompson and Ron Paul. It's close, but Ron Paul seems to barely edge out Fred Thompson. Of course, Thompson, the Washington insider's outsider candidate, has more attention in D.C. than Ron Paul. But who is honestly surprised by that?

Credit to Lew Rockwell Blog where I first saw this.

Rudy n' Romney pass on YouTube

So apparently Rudy and Mitt Romney have decided to pass on the YouTube debate in September. Rudy claims he has a scheduling conflict (which is pure bull shit, who schedules an event during a debate that has been announced months in advance?) and Romney claims that he's above being lectured by a snowman (actually, he's above being asked questions by people that want to hear more about how he doubled nearly every fee, expanded the budget and provided health care to Massachusetts).

On top of these two saying the won't go, only two candidates, Ron Paul and John McCain, have stated that they'll be attending. What I'm wondering is what are the other six (including Fred Thompson) going to do? My guess is that they're trying to follow the leaders and wait until they see a big fish get back into the debate.

Which big fish is most likely to do that? I'm thinking Romney will change his mind (he's been known to do so) if he can get an assurance that there will be no snowmen. After Romney, I see Fred Thompson as the guy most likely to step up and take the charge. Rudy is the least likely to change his mind first. Whoever does change their mind though, the other two will follow.

Check out Save the Debateto see if an online petition can succeed in saving an online debate.

Gilmore has dropped out

The Politico reports that Jim Gilmore has dropped out of the race. He has finally realized that he needs a ton of money and that he is further challenged by the primary front loading. I'll admit it; I didn't see him being the first to drop out. Still, it's unsuprising that he's gone and I expect Tancredo and Tommy Thompson to follow suit soon.

By the way, I've been gone for a while but as I predicted in my post about Fred Thompson, the "top tier" is beginning to collapse, beginning with McCain. I think Rudy will probably come next, probably as the IAFF and their hits on him increase in publicity.