Pollster Ann Selzer tells The Atlantic that GOP presidential candidates are approaching the Iowa caucuses very differently this campaign cycle.

Said Selzer: “What’s different is — and maybe this will change in the next month — [in past cycles] you had this feeling of candidates here, kind of a pulse of their supporters, lots of public events. You felt things happening. I haven’t felt that at all [this year]. You look at the number of candidate days here, it’s really small. The way that they’re campaigning is very different. We have all of these debates that have been very high-profile. It’s a different campaign.”

A bipartisan group known as Americans Elect “has raised $22 million and is likely to place a third presidential candidate on the ballot in every state next year,” the Washington Post reports.

“The goal is to provide an alternative to President Obama and the GOP nominee and break the tradition of a Democrat-vs.-Republican lineup.”

“The effort could represent a promising new chapter for political moderates, who see a wide-open middle in the political landscape as congressional gridlock and bitter partisan fights have driven down favorability ratings for both parties… The group is relying on an ambitious plan to hold a political convention
on the Internet that would treat registered voters like fans of ‘American Idol’, giving everyone a shot at picking a favorite candidate.”

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has asked a judge “for permission to reference portions of until-now confidential undercover recordings,” NBC Chicago reports.

Said the Blagojevich legal team: “The defense does not seek to play any wiretap recordings in their entirety. The brief excerpts of recordings or transcripts that Mr. Blagojevich is seeking to play in court and to reference in his written sentencing submission…do not involve sensitive, personal, or embarrassing comments about, or references to, any individuals.”

The AP notes Blagojevich’s lawyers say those tapes will describe his state of mind and “lack of ill intent.”

The sentencing hearing for Blagojevich is set for Dec. 6 and 7.

“I don’t look at his being stuck at 25 percent as a weakness. I see it as a show of strength in a very strange primary. As other candidates’ vote share falls away, I think he’ll get stronger.”

— GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, quoted by Businessweek, on Mitt Romney’s poll numbers.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch (D) tells Politico he thinks current Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) should mount a presidential bid to address the “lack of leadership” in Washington.

Said Koch: “I believe there is a major chance of a third party winning and I would like to see him pursue it for 2012. What I believe he offers is independence and money to finance a campaign and to be president.”

The New York Times interviews Mitt Romney’s hair stylist.

“By far his most distinctive physical feature, Mr. Romney’s head of impeccably coiffed black hair has become something of a cosmetological Rorschach test on the campaign trail, with many seeing in his thick locks everything they love and loathe about the Republican candidate for the White House. (Commanding, reassuring, presidential, crow fans; too stiff, too slick, too perfect, complain critics.)”

“Mr. Romney’s advisers have been known to fret about the shiny strands, and his rivals have sought to turn them against him.”

The latest WMUR/UNH poll in New Hampshire finds Mitt Romney continuing to dominate the GOP presidential race with 42% support, followed by Newt Gingrich at 15%, Ron Paul at 12% and Jon Huntsman at 8%.

“Also of note is that just 16% of these likely primary voters say they know who they are voting for. So, while Romney might like his commanding lead right now, there is no telling where 84% of voters will go in the six remaining weeks before the primary.”

Mitt Romney was asked in Iowa earlier today how he will stop the gridlock in Washington and Politico notes he “drifted into talking about Bob Dole as an ‘American hero’ who he’d model himself after.”

Interestingly, Romney told Fox News four years ago that Dole was “the last person he’d want” in his corner.

[Read more…]

Jon Huntsman said that he had not seen the ad recently released by the pro-Huntsman Our Destiny PAC in New Hampshire, and did not know whether his father had helped fund the $650,000 ad buy, The Hill reports.

Said Huntsman: “He’s my dad, he’s my best friend, he can do whatever he wants to do, we don’t talk about those things, we can’t. I’m just delighted we got some outside assistance from wherever it might come from that believes in our cause.”

Jonathan Chait: “The Republican race now seems to be between Mitt Romney, the consummate
establishmentarian, and Newt Gingrich, an hysterical blowhard. But if
you watched Tuesday night’s national security debate, you’d never have
guessed which was which.”