Republican Presidential Candidates: Money, Flags and Law & Order

“Hey, we want to win an election here,” the Republican presidential candidates yell at the Bush White House. That conversation hasn’t happened in public yet, but the way things are going for the Bush/Cheney administration, you’d think they were purposely sabotaging the 2008 elections for their fellow candidates.

More about the Republican presidential candidates below.

Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University, said the controversy over the missing Rove e-mails is another sign of “the downward spiral of an old, tired administration.”

Iraq continues to erode, Bush’s approval ratings are in the mid-30s and the administration is embroiled in multiple scandals and ethics investigations.

“They’ve got serious combat fatigue after six years in office,” said Baker. “The forces there are getting very thin.”

And that was the good news…

If you have $1,000 bucks handy, you can attend a reception for Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giulliani in the Denver area on Monday, according to the Denver Post. Local Republicans such as Broncos John Elway and  Ed McCaffrey will be at the fundraiser as well as former US Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. If you want a photo with the former New York mayor, that will run you $4,600. (Donors can give a candidate up to $2,300 for the primary and general elections each.)

Giulliani stance about the Confederate flag hasn’t endeared him to the African-American voter. From the ABC News website:

Giuliani has in the past seemed to voice personal opposition to the flag, which to many African-Americans is an offensive symbol of bigotry and slavery.

But when the former New York mayor visited Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday he said simply that the matter was a state issue.

Edward Vaughn, the president of the NAACP Alabama State Conference, who was in Montgomery that day, told ABC News that Giuliani’s remarks disappointed him.

“Giuliani is posturing himself to try to get the conservative, right-wing, Southern white vote in Alabama,” Vaughn said. “He used to oppose the flag, but now he’s backtracked because he’s running for president.”

The presidential filings with the Federal Election Commission are in and here are the results of the top three candidates:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has raised more money than any other Republican presidential candidate, reported Friday that his campaign took in $23.4 million in the first three months of this year and had $11.9 million left to spend as April began.

Romney’s campaign said it spent $11.6 million in this year’s first quarter – about half of the campaign’s overall first-quarter receipts. The $11.9 million cash-on-hand essentially matched the amount banked by former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

  Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani ended the first quarter with about $10.8 million in the bank for his primary bid and spent $5.7 million, his campaign said on Friday.

The former New York City mayor raised a total of $16.6 million in the first quarter, including $11.5 million in March alone, his advisors said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., entered the second quarter of the year with half the cash in the bank compared to his two main rivals for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, a significant challenge for a candidate who is trying to put some luster back in his campaign.

McCain aides said Saturday the senator had $5.2 million cash in hand after spending $8.4 million during the first three months of the year. McCain, who days ago moved to improve his fundraising operation, also reported $1.8 million in debts

Priorities. There are rumors that former Republican senator and movie actor Fred Thompson will enter the presidential race-as soon as his stint on NBC’s Law & Order ends for the season.