Free Republic

I'm told by two reliable sources that Rudy Giuliani intends to run for the GOP nomination for president in 2012. He may throw his hat in the ring soon. Rudy's theory of the race: In the fall of 2007, he decided he couldn't compete with both Mitt Romney and John McCain in New Hampshire, and disastrously decided to try to pull back there and pitch his tent in Florida. This year, he'll commit everything to New Hampshire, where he thinks he has a good shot at beating Romney—whom he criticized there earlier this week. He then thinks he can beat...

Rudy Giuliani analyzes the reason the Republican party is losing in recent years and what it can do to enlarge it's base. Stressing the importance of big tent politics and under-emphasizing social issues. In any case, the economy is the main reason McCain lost, but other social issues have also created a bad stereotype of Republicans in general.

The collapse of Rudy Giuliani’s presidential bid is surely one of the most striking developments of the 2008 campaign. Strategic mistake? I don’t think so. Rudy lost because he dissed social conservatives. In fact, the reason Giuliani missed those early primaries is because he dissed social conservatives. Giuliani’s attempt to take apart and reconstitute Ronald Reagan’s winning political coalition was his original sin. And Rudy’s primal transgression continues to shape the dynamics of 2008’s Republican presidential race. With Reagan’s erstwhile coalition now cast out of the garden of amity, only recognizing and understanding Rudy’s fault will allow us to find...

Rudy Giuliani appears to be pondering an end to his long pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination. In a meeting in the back of his chartered plane en route to St. Petersburg, Fla., a short while ago, the onetime, longtime GOP front-runner told a small group of reporters, including The Times' Louise Roug: "The winner of Florida will win the nomination."

BOCA RATON, Fla. A flood of early ballots from Republican voters, has already exceeded the turnout in the contests in Iowa, NH and Nevada. As of Friday night, nearly 400,000 party Republicans had cast early votes, either in person or by mail......There were 3.8 million Republicans qualified to vote Tuesday. That offers a glimmer of hope to Giuliani's calculated effort to get his supporters to vote early hoping to bank a substantial number of votes before losses in other early states raised questions about his viability and his competitors arrived in the state, driving down his numbers in the polls....

GIULIANI PARTNERS LLC 5 Times Square Confidential memo to file From R. Giuliani July 15, 2002 In one week I bought a new 3100-square-foot Central Park apartment for $5.25 million and dumped Donna for $6.8 million, plus the old apartment, child support, taxes, and legal fees. Not bad for a guy who made a measly $294,000 in 1992—my last year of private employment before becoming mayor. I'll make $8 million this year just for delivering my already oldie but goodie, the stock September 11 speech. Without 9-11, I'd be lucky to get a date at the Guy Molinari Republican Club...

Rudy Giuliani's toughness edged toward ruthlessness and became a defining aspect of his mayoralty. NYC spent at least $7M settling civil rights lawsuits and paying retaliatory damages during the Giuliani years. After unidentified city workers complained of pressure to hand contracts to Giuliani-favored organizations, investigators examined not the charges but the leakers' identity. “There were constant loyalty tests: ‘Will you shoot your brother?’ ” said Marilyn Gelber, environmental commissioner under Mr. Giuliani. “People were marked for destruction for disloyal jokes.” Giuliani paid careful attention to the art of political payback. When former Mayors Koch and Dinkins spoke publicly of Mr....

For 50 days, Giuliani had the Sunshine State nearly to himself........he’s sucked up to Miami's Cuban vote, pandered in Cape Canaveral about the space program, tried to scare retirees in South Florida. There he is riding in a fire truck in a Miami parade, trailed by angry firefighters who blame him for multiple failures when NY was attacked.......in the Panhandle, he's the consummate Yankees fan trying to look down-home on the Redneck Riviera. Yet, the more they see of Giuliani, the more his poll numbers tank...... Rudy’s campaign is in meltdown. Amazing how much voters bring up his tawdry personal...

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who for months was the first presidential choice of California Republicans, may have blown it. A new statewide Field Poll is the latest survey to confirm that Giuliani, who sat out the first round of primaries to concentrate on the big states such as Florida and California, has slipped behind Arizona Sen. John McCain and other Republican hopefuls. Ten months ago, Giuliani claimed more than a third of California GOP voters in the Field Poll, with McCain the only other candidate reaching double digits. But the latest survey, taken this month, found that he...

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - Rudy Giuliani splurged on Florida, lavishing time and money on a high-risk gamble that the state would vault him to the Republican presidential nomination. Five days before his make-or-break primary, all that last year's national front-runner has to show for the love he's given the Sunshine State is a diminished standing. "We are gaining support. I think you'll see that over the next few days," Giuliani insisted Wednesday, hours before a new poll showed him trailing John McCain and Mitt Romney. Florida was supposed to be "Rudy Country." His game plan called for playing down earlier-voting...

Rudy Giuliani may have made a great mistake by not campaigning in New Hampshire, Nevada, Iowa and South Carolina. But between Rudy Giuliani (and, for that matter, Mitt Romney) on the one hand and John McCain on the other, there is little question as to who more embodies mainstream conservative and Republican principles. But Giuliani is not merely more of a conservative than John McCain. In fact, if it is Ronald Reagan that Republicans want, Giuliani is extraordinarily close to that venerated man. Ronald Reagan stood for two great beliefs: that big government is a big problem for a free...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is trailing in the race for the Republican presidential nomination even on his home turf of New York state, a new poll showed on Monday. The WNBC/Marist poll ahead of the February 5 primaries in New York showed 34 percent of registered Republicans support John McCain, compared to 23 percent for Giuliani. Among Republicans likely to vote, McCain kept his 34 percent support, while Giuliani was tied in second place with Mitt Romney at 19 percent. McCain's campaign has been boosted by wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina...

Giuliani's must-win Florida strategy is in trouble.... McCain moved up 9 points, supported by 22% likely GOP primary voters, compared to Giuliani's 20%, down 8 points (Quinnipiac). Huckabee and Romney got 19%..... Giuliani's poor performance in Iowa and NH is negatively impacting his candidacy........"he staked his entire campaign on winning Florida and that lead has evaporated," the pollster said. But there is a silver lining - 59%, including many Northeast transplants and Cuban-Americans, swear they will not abandon him.......only 42% of McCain's backers say they'll stick with him.

HAVANA PARTY: Giuliani aboard a vintage firetruck at the Three Kings Parade in Miami's Little Havana. A fading, cash-strapped Giuliani...all but admitted a defeat here could doom his candidacy. Giuliani courted the influential Hispanic vote in South Florida. His base of support is Florida's Northeastern transplants, and Cuban-Americans. His support has eroded here following poor performances in Iowa and New Hampshire and he is battling a cash crunch ....about a dozen top staffers will not be paid this month to help preserve resources for Florida, and Super Tuesday.

Giuliani's top campaign staffers are working without pay and his national finance co-chairman has stepped down - signs of his presidential campaign's turmoil and financial difficulties........just weeks before the make-or-break Florida primary Jan. 29. The Giuliani campaign announced it had $7M to spend in the primary as of Dec. 31. But that doesn't include millions of dollars in TV ads since then..... national finance co-chair, Roy Bailey, has stepped down and is working at Rudy's firm Giuliani Partners.

About a dozen senior campaign staffers for Rudy Giuliani are foregoing their January paychecks, aides said Friday, a sign of possible money trouble for the Republican presidential candidate. "We have enough money, but we could always use more money,'' contended Mike DuHaime, Giuliani's campaign manager and one of those who now is working for free. "We want to make sure we have enough to win.'' At the end of December, he said the campaign had $11.5 million cash on hand, $7 million of which can be used for the primary. He disputed the notion of a cash-strapped campaign, and said...

McCain's NH victory was the best news for Giuliani's wacko strategy of hiding in the dugout until the final innings....the Republican nom remains completely up for grabs and probably will remain so for several more weeks. If McCain is the nominal front-runner, the Palmetto State - where voters have very long memories and carry very long grudges - will rise up and destroy him on illegal immigration. It is altogether possible that a sure conservative like Fred Thompson wins SC, further flattening the field. And a flattened field heading into Florida is the only way Giuliani can hope his strange...

DERRY, N.H. -- Toward the conclusion of a town hall meeting here, Rudy Giuliani called on a woman to ask the last question when a man stood up and screamed, "What about the 50 million?" He continued to scream at Rudy about his pro-choice views while Rudy smiled and urged the woman to continue her question and ignore the protester. The woman screamed at the protester, "You are out of line. Sit down." Then the crowd started chanting, "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!..." Security came and escorted the screaming man out. As he was being dragged offf, he was yelling, "All these...

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Rudy Giuliani has never had a problem getting attention — until now. "We are in good shape," the Republican presidential candidate insists even though he was largely missing in action in Iowa and is struggling in New Hampshire, the two states that are the epicenters of the race. His unconventional road map to the nomination carried this very risk from the start. It called for playing down those states that opened the primary season in favor of spending more time and resources in the delegate-rich ones that vote later this month and on Feb. 5 such as...

Republican Blood Feud The worst-case primary scenario. By David Freddoso Less than a week remains before Republicans begin the long and arduous road to choosing a nominee. It begins in Iowa on Jan. 3, and continues at least through Feb. 5, the day that more than 20 states will select delegates to the convention in Minnesota’s Twin Cities next fall. The possibility for idle speculation is endless. But there are a number of things we know for sure. First, the rise of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is more than a passing phenomenon. Polls show that his religious conservative voters...