Looks like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has finally bitten the bullet and has submitted papers to register a PAC—usually the first step in any presidential bid—thus ending the most predictable speculation in the 2012 race so far. Pawlenty will call his PAC Freedom First, continuing the GOP trend of corny freedom-themed PAC names. (Mitt Romney's is called Free and Strong America.) Over at Politico, J-Mart reports that Pawlenty has been quietly collecting high-profile campaign staff and supporters, including Vin Weber to co-chair his campaign. Weber, a former Minnesota congressman and a prominent GOP player, threw his weight behind Romney in 2008. Pawlenty has wrapped up a few other big names from the 2008 cycle, including RNC communications director Alex Conant and McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson, who will be big assets to his bid.

Big news up here in New York this weekend was that President Obama has taken the unusual measure of intervening in a statewide Democratic primary.  New York Governor David Paterson, the first African-American governor in New York's history, faces terribly low approval ratings and the White House privately asked him to drop out of his re-election bid in 2010. On Sunday, just before Obama arrived here for the U.N. General Assembly, Paterson rebuffed him, saying publicly that he is staying in the race, which made for an awkward scene today. Normally in New York, where Democrats hold a 5-3 advantage in voter registration and the state Republican Party has been in disarray, Democrats do not have much to worry about statewide elections. But Paterson looks vulnerable, so former Republican Senatorial candidate Rick Lazio is expected to announce his candidacy and Rudy Giuliani could also get into the race.

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared on CNN's American Morning today and admitted, in a roundabout fashion, that he's considering running for governor of New York in 2010. Giuliani said, "I don’t know if I am or if I’m not" entering the gubernatorial race, but disclosed that he's been thinking about it. Incumbent Gov. David Paterson has been polling poorly for some time and would likely lose to Giuliani in a general election. But if Paterson doesn't run, other Democratic contenders, such as Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose political heritage would serve him well, would be tougher competitors.

Your Gaggler would be interested to see what impact Rudy's spectacularly bad campaign for president would have in a New York state race, if any. I happen to think his aborted stab at the GOP nomination is one of the most underreported stories of the 2008 campaign, overshadowed by all things Obama. Back in 2006, Giuliani was widely considered a shoo-in for the nomination. He had national positive name recognition, a seemingly efficient fundraising machine, and an easily spun record of reform and achievement. His questionable personal choices seemed the only flaw in the plan (not that they'd ever seriously harmed his chances in New York City contests). But it never even got to that. His disastrous Florida strategy caused his campaign to flame out before his divorces, affair, and blasé approach to cross-dressing had a chance to be nationally litigated. In a matter of weeks, Giuliani went from being one of the most popular and recognizable figures in American politics to being in the company of the least successful presidential contenders in history. Will this embarrassment, and the poor political judgment it illustrates, matter to New Yorkers? Probably not. New Yorkers have never cared much for how the rest of the country judged their politicians. Maybe Rudy's lack of regard for the retail, handshake politics of small states like New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Iowa will even win him a few fans in the Empire State.

John McCain’s presidential campaign may be struggling, but he’s getting some love on the trail in Iowa. Stumping near Mason City on Monday, Rudy Giuliani praised the Arizona senator, not once but twice, telling his audience that if he weren’t waging his own bid for the White House that he’d be campaigning for McCain. “He’d be my candidate,” Giuliani said, telling voters, among other things, that he agrees with McCain’s position on Iraq. “I admire the man tremendously.”

That’s some serious sweet talk, considering Rudy was out touting his own bid for the White House. In fact, his declaration prompted some surprised looks among audience members, including reporters on the scene. After all, it was less than two months ago that Giuliani and McCain got into a big time fight over immigration reform. Rudy was no fan of a McCain-sponsored bill in the Senate, trashing it during June’s CNN GOP debate as a “typical Washington mess.” That prompted an angry response from McCain, who snittily suggested that Giuliani should read the bill before criticizing it.