Miami, Fl: McCain Victory Party……

It’s off to California for the debate in the Reagan Library….
Giuliani will arrive non stop in California 2 or 3 hours ahead of McCain tomorrow who will stop to refuel in Tx.
Giuliani has publicly said he is going to California, but conspicuously refused to answer questions about participating in tomorrow night’s debate at the Reagan Library.
McCain had planned a news conference upon arrival in California tomorrow.
That is now being re-looked at in order to coordinate a joint appearance.
Neither campaign will confirm or deny plans for an endorsement tomorrow.
But OTHER GOP sources say it is being arranged for tomor

The first in the south republican debate just ended. Who won? …

John McCain talks with Sean Hannity post debate.

Fred Thompson chats with Alan Colmes.

Like several of his GOP colleagues, John McCain says he had hoped Wednesday’s debate in Des Moines would focus more on Iraq and immigration. done

At times, dark horse candidate Alan Keyes seemed to dominate the discussion with his anti-establishment rants, cutting down on time for other candidates to speak. done

Senator McCain raised eyebrows in the press room during the debate, when he promised to push for “oil independence” for the U.S. in five years. He later clarified that remark, saying he meant “oil security.” done

Cedar Rapids, IA — Rudy Giuliani said he found Wednesday’s GOP debate “unsatisfying” because it left out some of the “biggest issues” facing the country.

“One of the things that I found unsatisfying about the debate today was that it cut off discussing Iraq and illegal immigration. They are two of the biggest issues that face us,” Giuliani told a town hall forum at Coe College Wednesday evening. He discussed his reaction in response to a student’s question about the origins of terrorism.

He was then asked for further comment by another forum attendee. Referring to the moderator of today’s Iowa Public Radio/Des Moines Register debate, Carolyn Washburn, he added, “I think she did a good job of asking the questions she asked. But I think it was a mistake to leave out terrorism, Iraq, Iran and immigration.”

He’s railing against “elites”… accusing the moderator of a conspiracy to keep him silent… and pitching his website from the podium

As Campaign Carl predicted, Alan Keyes was in fine form at this afternoon’s debate. The energy! The eloquence! The anti-establishment rants!

You don’t always know what he’s talking about, but he says it with such vigor and absolute conviction that he at least gets credit for keeping the discussion lively, and the other candidates on their toes.

The Des Moines Register has to be kicking itself for not figuring out a way to disqualify Alan Keyes from the debate. He is interrupting the moderator, Carolyn Washburn, at will demanding to respond to questions not posed to him. After enough whining, Washburn concedes. Keyes is “making sense” to some country out there. It’s called Alan Keyes, population 1.

John McCain complimented current New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s education plan–fixing a system that was “clearly broken.” Paging Rudy Giuliani?

The former NYC mayor was up next to discuss education but ignored McCain’s remarks.

In response to a question posed by Des Moines Register Editor Carolyn Washburn asking for a “show of hands,” on who believes global warming is a serious issue.

Fred Thompson refused to raise his hand, instead asking for 60 seconds. It caused laughter in the crowd and the press room. The candidates won, each getting 30 seconds to talk about climate change

The debate’s non-confrontational format thus far–asking the same questions of all the candidates– is allowing all of the contenders to go back to their regular stump speeches. Good for the candidates and their message but snoozer for the media thus far…

Ten minutes into a Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, and John McCain has come out with one of the boldest statements of his campaign so far. He promised to make the U.S. oil independent within five years.

The Senator says he’ll make it happen quickly, with a program like the Manhattan Project. That was the big push the U.S. made to build an atomic bomb before Germany could get one.