Are You Ready?

IOWA 'ER BUST

KY3 CAUCUS COVERAGE

In just a few hours, we'll be hitting the road for Des Moines. Remember to check back with the KY3 Political Notebook throughout the week for continuous updates from around the Hawkeye State as we travel with the candidates in the final 72-hours leading up to these historic caucuses. Our goal is to keep you up-to-date with firsthand dispatches from the scene and pictures from the events.

Then, be sure to watch KY3 News on Wednesday for live previews, and of course on Thursday night on KY3 News @ 10 for live results from Mike Huckabee's campaign. A few final notes before we go:

• DROPPING THE BALL - The final Des Moines Register poll is set to drop just as your New Year's Eve celebration kicks into high gear. This poll will set the final expectations/storyline for candidates. Will John Edwards continue to surge? Is Huckabee losing momentum?
• IT"S THE DELEGATES, STUPID. - Without a viable Iowa campaign, Rudy Giuliani has been out of the news cycle. But he maintains he's far from out of this race. In a campaign memo e-mailed to supporters this morning, Giuliani makes the case that the nomination is determined by the number of delegates accumulated -- not by who wins the early states. The strategy memo points to solid Giuliani leads in Florida, California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey. Giuliani's campaign also points out that only 78 delegates will be chosen prior to Florida in late January, whereas 1,039 delegates will be selected on Jan. 29th and Feb. 5th. The campaign also makes a brief mention of Missouri in the memo: "Aside from the huge northeast delegate prize, Missouri will award 58 winner-take-all delegates, and Senator Kit Bond's endorsement gives our organization a great statewide network there."
• LOSING THE BIG 'MO - Do you get the feeling the insurgents for the past month -- Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee -- are now losing steam as gametime approaches? The Des Moines Register poll with either confirm this perception or defeat it, but the sense is while that Iowans flirted with "the dream," many are coming home to former frontrunners Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton. Is electability driving this? Or did the negative attacks just stick?

Ok, time to pack lots of warm clothes. Iowa isn't exactly balmy this time of year. Thanks for clicking back so often on the blog this year. We hope we'll make it worth your while to do so even more this crazy election year . . . To you and yours, Happy New Year.

Talk to you in Des Moines!