Mac is Back. Giuliani is Out

John McCain continues his victory Surge across the country, well on to win the Republican nomination. Very sorry that Rudy Giuliani has lost his bid for the White House:

Rudy Giuliani told supporters Wednesday he's abandoning his bid for
president and backing Republican rival and longtime friend John McCain.
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and adviser to Giuliani, said
the former mayor called him this morning to tell him of his plan.
Giuliani
"will be announcing his endorsement today," said King.

What became of Rudy? Of course, the Media consensus is his "Florida Strategy" of ignoring the small states and going for the larger delegate count, which thus placed him out of the limelight for several crucial weeks. There may be another cause, though.

Could it be success for the Iraq Surge, and the long years since 9/11 have made Americans more confident and less anxious over the Terror threat? This was Giuliani's strong point, and the principle reason yours truly threw his unwavering support towards America's Mayor. By no means do I consider the TWar on Terror over, and we let down our guard at our peril, but do think that Al Qaeda is currently on the defensive in Iraq and around the world. The lack of an attack on America's soil since 9/11 speaks for itself.

Good luck Rudy, and might we see a McCain/Giuliani ticket this fall? Talk about a dream team!

Rudy's Hail Mary Play

Giuliani is staking his campaign on Florida Jan. 29! From Yahoo/AP:

As his opponents spent time, money and energy battling in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and beyond, Giuliani shifted his resources to Florida, where he hopes its winner-take-all Jan. 29 primary will hand him 57 delegates and catapult him overnight to the top of the race for the nomination. He has no delegates so far.

Mitt Romney, who won the Michigan primary Tuesday, leads the delegate race with 42, followed by Mike Huckabee with 32 and John McCain with 13. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination...

Florida's media market is so expensive that the candidates — having blown much of their money on the first several primaries — will be relying heavily on news coverage to get out their messages.

I also consider that with the race for the White House starting so early this cycle, almost leading to a continuous campaign from election to election, some are getting weary of the top candidates already. At least the current frontrunners like McCain, Obama, Hillary, Romney, must themselves be getting "war weary" from the hectic schedule. Anyway, I'm thinking Rudy's plan might be the right one, but we'll see.

Rudy's Strategy

Rudy Giuliani's campaign for President has been noticeably absent in the Iowa Caucus. All this is according to plan, he details in an email to National Review:

Our rivals seemingly have built campaigns based on the old calendars' strategies — a couple of very early state wins to propel them deeper in to the nomination process. To the contrary, our plan allocates time and resources to the many states which vote a bit later — on January 29 (Florida) and February 5...

If Mayor Giuliani wins even a minority share of the 78 delegates from pre Florida states, wins Florida's 57 delegates, wins the 201 available in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware, and wins only a plurality of delegates from large February 5th states like California, Georgia and Illinois, he will have a commanding lead in delegates for the nomination with more than half of the delegates selected.

This might actually work. I am already soooooo sick of the nomination process and deluge of Media coverage, Rudy coming in late might be the breath of fresh air and new issues which is needed. This early campaigning is so taxing on the nerves!

Rudy Giuliani is "Ready"

His latest campaign ad. Powerful stuff and so true!

Giuliani's 9/11 Ad

I heard some commentors on MSNBC complaining about this ad, but I say MORE, MORE! Never forget.

Rudy's Holiday Message

MSM can rest easy. No crosses here.

America Needs Giuliani

His latest ad. Powerful stuff!

5 Most Formidable Presidential Candidates

My own list, in terms of Likability, Power (ie. money, friends), and Experience:

1). Rudy Giuliani wins in the Experience category hands down, mainly for restoring law and order to New York City before 9/11, thus preparing it for the trials ahead. Rudy also wins top marks for Likability and scores favorably in Power.

2). John McCain is here mainly for experience and some Likability for his service to this country in the Vietnam War. He also gets top marks for his stand for Victory in Iraq, a gutsy move in today's political climate. If not for his support of Campaign Finance and Amnesty Immigration, McCain would be the top candidate for 2008.

3). Hillary Clinton makes the list mainly for Power, thanks to close ties to Hollywood, the Media, and rich liberal lobbyists. She does well in terms of experience, but lowest in Likability. She would place 2nd save for her waffling on her Iraq vote, and might be first if her name wasn't Clinton.

4). Mitt Romney scores well on Experience and Likability. He does less well in Power since Americans know little about him except that he's a Mormon. Maybe next time, Mitt!

5). Fred Thompson finishes out the Top 5 strictly for Likability, though this might change if he actually starts running. He has the least experience of all candidates in the Top 5. Amazing that he even made the list.

Honorable mention goes to Mike Huckabee who won 2nd in the Ames Straw Poll, who's another unknown, and Barak Obama, who might have made the list if he would just stop speaking.

Election 2008 Apology Watch #6

A first for Rudy Giuliani here, from FoxNews:

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he
misspoke when he said he spent as much time, if not more, at ground zero exposed
to the same health risks as workers combing the site after the Sept. 11
attacks.
"I think I could have said it better," he told nationally syndicated
radio host Mike Gallagher. "You know, what I was saying was, 'I'm there with
you."'
The former New York mayor upset some firefighters and police officers
when he said Thursday in Cincinnati that he was at ground zero "as often, if not
more, than most of the workers."
"I was there working with them. I was
exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm
one of them," he told reporters at a Los Angeles Dodgers-Cincinnati Reds
baseball game...
"What I was trying to say yesterday is that I empathize with
them, because I feel like I have that same risk," he said.

He might not have been in the trenches with the firefighters and rescuers, but thank God he was where he was at on 9/11.