Last nights Saturday Night Live was chock full of campaign coverage. First check out the shows version of the Obama vs. Clinton debate:

Next Senator Clinton gives a response:

Then long-winded but rather true recap of Barack Obama’s relationship with Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson:

FINALLY a second surprise guest, Rudy Giuliani who came in to discuss his campaign.

Mark Halperin is reporting from inside sources that Giuliani will endorse McCain as early as tomorrow in Simi Valley California.

CNN has a report on it and MSNBC is talking about the chatter.

Report comes from Mark Halperin who points out that no major Republican candidate has aid advertising running in Super Tuesday states one week before the vote. What can we read from it? Halperin gets right to it, Romney is waiting for results in Florida and the others just plain don’t have the money.

As Mark points out this is a major symbol from a party which just a few years ago had dominated the money race.

From the Associated Press

“Most people are staying on,” but a few have departed, adviser Ed Rollins said in an interview. “A number of people, including myself,” have agreed to forgo their pay in order to spend as much as possible on television ads in vital states, Rollins said.

Campaign contributions continue to come in, he said. But he acknowledged that the former Arkansas governor is stretched thin as he tries to compete in Florida’s primary next Tuesday and many of the two dozen states holding contests Feb. 5.

84% REPUBLICANS: SOUTH CAROLINA…

MCCAIN… 33%
HUCKABEE… 29%
THOMPSON… 16%
ROMNEY… 15%
PAUL… 4%
GIULIANI… 2%

TechTags Plugin [ Mitt Romney | Ron Paul | John McCain | Fred Thompson | Mike Huckabee | Rudy Giuliani | South Carolina ]

The Hill that the release of Senator Clinton and Senator Obama’s economic stimulus package has put them at odds with their Congressional counterparts. When the Democrats took control of Congress last year they adopted a “pay-as-you-go” system.

Now Congressional democrats are left with either the choice of going against their parties potential nominees or continuing their new tradition of observing fiscal responsibility, which was an issue that helped them take control in the first place.

Both Clinton and Obama’s proposals would cost taxpayers, Clinton’s is estimated at $110 billion, Obama’s at $120 billion. Both argue, as some economists do, that offsetting economic stimulus with tax increases would offset the objective of the stimulus. Put simply, in order to stimulate the economy one must put the budget into a deficit to pay for it.

Obama and Clinton hope, with varying ways, to achieve the same objective. Put money into the hands of those that need assistance in order to have them spend it and flush the overall economy with new money.

Republicans too are releasing economic stimulus packages including one by Rudy Giuliani which seeks to achieve the same objective through tax cuts. Mike Huckabee released a plan this morning. Because Republicans are achieving the objective through tax cutting though they may not face the same internal backlash from their party as Democrats now face.

Without mounting signs that the economy is headed for recession and polling showing the issue is top in Americans mind, the debate undoubtedly has just begun.

Two reports today. One from CNN that top Giuliani staffers have been asked to work unpaid throughout January and possibly longer so that the campaign can focus resources on Florida.

Two sources in the campaign, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted the campaign was not in dire financial straits. A third campaign source, however, said “things are starting to get tight” and that “it was more telling than asking” the senior staff to forgo paychecks beginning the first of the year.

Meanwhile the Associated Press is reporting the number of staffers at around twelve including Giuliani’s campaign manager Mike DuHaime.

Both articles mention that some sources, including Mike DuHaime, say the move was “voluntary” and limited to only senior staff.

Rudy Giuliani unveiled what his campaign is calling the “largest tax cut in the history of America” in Florida yesterday.

From Giuliani’s Web site the proposal would:

• Makes all the Bush tax cuts permanent, including full repeal of the death tax.
• Index the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to inflation, and eventually repeal it.
• Reduce the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 25 percent
• Cut the capital gains and qualified dividends tax rate from 15 percent to 10 percent and will index capital assets to inflation
• Replace the dozens of tax-advantaged savings accounts with a simplified system of Retirement Savings Accounts and Lifetime Savings Accounts.
• Give all Americans the ability to purchase health insurance pre-tax through a health care standard deduction.
• Create an alternate “Fair And Simple Tax (FAST)” system that American families and small businesses could choose to go into each year, with a three-bracket structure, a 30 percent top rate, and only the most popular deductions in place.

Found via TPM Election Central of a Guardian Unlimited interview with John Deady, the co-chair of New Hampshire Veterans for Rudy Giuliani.

“He’s got I believe the knowledge and the judgement to attack one of the most difficult problems in current history and that is the rise of the Muslims, and make no mistake about it, this hasn’t happened for a thousand years. These people are very dedicated and they’re also very very smart in their own way. We need to keep the feet to the fire and keep pressing these people until we defeat or chase them back to their caves or in other words get rid of them.”