Extreme Mortman is interviewing top bloggers who will be covering the 2008 presidential campaign. Here is Iowa-based Caucus Cooler.

Mortman: Tell me what the Caucus Cooler blog is?
Caucus Cooler: The Caucus Cooler is the premiere Iowa Caucus blog. We cover insider information regarding the 2008 Caucus. From Presidential wannabees Iowa visits, to the latest campaign acquisitions, to down and dirty insider dish- we’ve got it first.
We also cover news about the likely Republican contenders and anything that catches our interest on the Democrat side. We also offer the signature “Cooler Line” which tracks who the most likely candidate to win the Iowa Caucus is at any given time.

Mortman: What is your role?
Caucus Cooler: The Cooler has an ensemble cast of authors; all of whom are Republican insiders. We see our role as
a) Providing a forum for other interested parties to discuss the news of the day as it relates to the upcoming Presidential Caucus.
b) inform those who are either out of state or out of the loop about the latest news from the Caucus campaign trail.
c) be the best place to get information solely focused on the Iowa Caucus.

Mortman: How will blogs, online communities, and social networking affect and change the Iowa presidential precinct caucuses in 2008?
Caucus Cooler: Firstly, there will be more information about the candidates, the campaigns, the activists, the nuances than ever before. News is being broken on the blogs that the MSM either won’t cover or can’t cover quickly enough. Blogs will be a great way for candidates and campaigns to spread their message to a defined audience and it will allow them to target their message to folks they know are going to be participating in the Caucus.

Mortman: Compare the impact blogs and online communities will have in 2008 caucuses campaigning and voting to that of the mainstream media?
Caucus Cooler: The blogs are a more interactive medium for one. They will allow the people who support different candidates to have a dialogue as opposed to a one-way conversation. Blogs also can focus on information that the MSM wouldn’t cover and wouldn’t interest a casual voter. We discuss little nuances about staffing and who’s supporting who- things that the Des Moines Register would never print. That will allow you to see the momentum that one candidate or another is gaining far quicker on the blogs than you could in the mainstream media.

Mortman: Will blogs follow the mainstream media or will the mainstream media follow the blogs?
Caucus Cooler: Chicken or the Egg. MSM reporters all read the blogs religiously. Since bloggers have the advantage of not having to have sources for their info, they are much more conducive to rumors and innuendo. Oftentimes these rumors turn into facts and so the MSM has to catch up to a story that’s been in the blogs for a couple of weeks. On the flip side, most bloggers have other jobs, so the MSM reporters can do much more detailed research. They also have more resources in most cases. For that reason, we post a lot of MSM stories on the Cooler (particularly from smaller papers) and those stories drive the conversation we have on the blog. It’s a give and take.

Mortman: What role will young voters play in the 2008 caucuses?
Caucus Cooler: We’re old, crotchety and jaded, so we’ll have to pass on that.

Mortman: Which potential candidates, Democrats and Republicans, have been organizing online campaigns geared to Iowa?
Caucus Cooler: More familiar with the R side. Romney and McCain both have Iowa blogs. Huckabee bloggers from New Hampshire and Arkansas post on Iowa blogs. That’s all we can think of at this point.

Mortman: As we approach the caucuses, which candidates, both Dem and Republican, will have more appeal to blogs and online communities– and why? And which will have the least — and why?
Caucus Cooler: This is a lot harder to read on the R side. In Iowa, we seem to have a group of far-right fringe bloggers and we’re not sure where they’ll line up, since there don’t seem to be any viable fringe-right candidates. Romney already has a strong blog presence. McCain and Giuliani will probably attract the younger set and those people are more likely to blog. It will be interesting to see it develop.

Mortman: Who will win the 2008 Iowa presidential precinct caucuses — both Dem and Republican?
Caucus Cooler: Right now we have Mitt Romney leading the “Cooler Line”, followed by McCain, Pataki, Giuliani, Allen and Huckabee. We call those the “Big 6″ because they seem to be the viable contenders at this point. (Huckabee might even be a stretch. He’s on the bubble). Where we place Pataki surprises a lot of people nationally, but he has a great organization in Iowa already and he can fundraise, so we think he could be a sleeper. If we had to predict right now, we’d say Romney takes the Iowa Caucus and McCain gets the nomination- with Romney right on his heels. It will be interesting to see what happens with Allen though. He’s a wild-card in all of this since he’s not really campaigning for President yet. Once we see who lines up with Allen in early 2007, everything could change.
On the D side it looks like its Hillary’s to lose. Warner and Edwards seem to be the two most likely to knock her off.

Mortman: How will Caucus Cooler cover the caucuses?
Caucus Cooler: Better than anybody else.