Boy, Rudy can sure pick 'em. The former New York Mayor had a good fundraising quarter, outraising every other Republican in the field, but he can't seem to hold on to endorsers. First, President Bush relieved Giuliani of his Iowa state chair when he appointed former Congressman Jim Nussle to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Then, a federal grand jury relieved Giuliani of his South Carolina chairman when it indicted Treasurer Thomas Ravenel on cocaine charges (Ravenel pleaded not guilty and flew to the Sierra Tucson facility for rehabilitation).

Now comes news that the first member of Congress to be swept up in the so-called D.C. Madam case is Louisiana Senator David Vitter. Vitter, as Marc Ambinder points out, was one of the first top Republicans to throw his weight behind Giuliani, and while Vitter's apology last night may not make Rudy cut him completely adrift, it's certainly a loss of someone who could have played a big role as a conservative liaison.

Meanwhile, as the Senate continues debate and votes on the Defense Department's appropriations bill, Democrats are looking for a way to break what has thus far been a united Republican front on the war in Iraq. Three top Senate Republicans -- Senators Richard Lugar, George Voinovich and Pete Domenici -- have all called for new thinking about America's strategy in the Middle East, and Democrats hope they can convince a few others to join in.

The majority party is putting pressure on four Republican senators beginning today as the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee begins running ads against four GOPers who face voters in 2008. The DSCC's first ads of the cycle are targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell along with Senators Susan Collins, Norm Coleman and John Sununu, three incumbents who Democrats see as their best chances for a pick-up in 2008. View the ads here.

But why target McConnell? "If you look at the poll numbers in [Kentucky], he's vulnerable to a challenge," DSCC spokesman Matt Miller tells RealClearPolitics. Miller's discussion of McConnell recalls Republican charges against then-Democratic leader Tom Daschle in 2002: "Mitch McConnell is on the floor of the Senate every day standing in the way of changing course in Iraq," Miller said. Republicans made the argument that Daschle was obstructing President Bush's legislative initiatives.

"There will be a strong Democratic candidate in Kentucky in 2008," according to Miller. The state has a governor's race this year, and many of the Democrats who failed to win their party's nomination for either of the top two slots could make a comeback attempt at McConnell's seat next year.

Finally today, former Congresswoman Jill Long Thompson will make official her bid to become Indiana’s first female governor. Thompson, who served in Congress from 1988 to 1994, when Rep. Mark Souder beat her, will fight businessman Jim Schellinger and State Senate Minority Leader Richard Young for the right to take on Governor Mitch Daniels.

The Indiana governor's race is one that remains exceedingly local. Daniels has been beset by controversy over selling off toll roads and, believe it or not, manipulating the state's multiple time zones. This is a race to watch, as I first said on HotlineTV back in January. I was excited because of what I thought would be a great matchup between Daniels and Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson. A month later, Peterson announced he would run for re-election instead of taking on Daniels. Oops.