With Republican primary candidates beginning their Florida blitz, Rudy Giuliani on Sunday continued a strategy of mixing it up, if gently, while hammering away at his claim that he is the bigger tax cutter.
Asked about his dismal showing in South Carolina’s primary, where he garnered just 2 percent of the vote, Giuliani said, “I’m only thinking about Florida.” Republican front-runner John McCain has been the target of the Giuliani’s light-gloved campaign slaps of the past two days.
At a gathering with seniors at the Sun City Center Community Hall here, Giuliani continued to work the issues of his tax-cutting record, his leadership experience and, to a lesser extent than in his early campaigning here, anti-terror messages.
At a stop in Tampa for a national TV talk-show appearance, he again mentioned McCain by name, saying his own record of tax cutting and being a “fiscal conservative” outshone the Arizona senator’s. “I think I’m the strongest fiscal conservative in the race,” Giuliani said.
His Florida campaign chief, Bill McCollum, the state attorney general, went further in a talk with reporters. McCain “has not been an executive. He’s not been an executive of any type,” McCollum said. He dismissed Mike Huckabee entirely, saying, “Mike Huckabee’s not going to win this race.”
While McCollum said he doesn’t expect it, he said he believes Giuliani could do well on Super Tuesday, when 22 states hold their primaries Feb. 5, even if he finished second in Florida.
Despite concerns about funding that has led some Giuliani staff to work without pay, McCollum said the campaign has “plenty of financing” to pay for a heavy TV ad schedule through to Jan. 29, when Florida holds its primary. Beyond that, he said, none of the primary contenders is flush with cash, relying primarily on momentum from prior primary wins to help them through super Tuesday. Giuliani thus far hasn’t won any states, but at his campaign stops, has said Florida will be the “defining” contest of the primary.
Mark Harrington in Pebble Beach, Fla.
Anne Macri, a South Pebble Beach resident, said she had already cast her vote for Giuliani. Asked why, she said, “I believe in him. He’s a strong person. We don’t need a whimp.”
But Bob Sumner of Sun City said McCain’s momentum presents Giuliani with real challenges.
“I think the Maverick is leading down the road,” he said of McCain, while questioning Giuliani’s strategy of abandoning other states to focus here. “I think it’s a big mistake just to rely on Florida to get started,” said Sumner, who likes Mitt Romney.
Managers of the Sun City Center escorted former New York City fire chief Jim Riches from the venue, where the father of a firefighter son who died on Sept. 11 had begun handing out fliers. Also here, a woman who told Giuliani in Tampa that her son was serving a second tour in Iraq and Afghanistan followed his campaign bus to its second stop and, after attempting to make her way into the Sun City Center, was escorted from the building and handcuffed by police.
Comments (2)
I hope Giuliana's tactic of campaigning primarily in Florida fails him because it fails our country. If he would win the Republican Party as their leader, it would only continue to support the idea that "they" don't care about "all" the people .. only those that have something to give back (delegates). It shows the country that winning Florida, due to having many delegates, is what is important to the Republican Party. He would only go on to the big states which is contrary to why this system was set up in the 1st place. This also shows that this man just doesn't care about all the people. Republican's don't let this happen!
The system? There is no system. There are a few states that claim to be more important than others, and then everyone else.