Political Wire is reporting a couple of items from the Evans-Novak Report.

1) That Conservative Republican Bill Simon has begun building a network of support in California for the potential presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani. Simon worked as a prosecutor for Giuliani in NYC in 1986-1988.

2) That the Iraq War is a key factor in the recent decline in polls for Arizona Senator John McCain. The report suggests public disenchantment over McCain’s desire to raise troop levels by 30,000. Likewise the report says many republicans fear that if the President raises troops levels and a surge in progress is not seen immediately in Iraq it could have dire political consequences.