Rudy Giuliani’s Trials on the Campaign Trail

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has been gearing up his campaign against Republican candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney for the Florida primary on Tuesday. His hopes for a comeback move were dashed when initial results of the Florida primary polls indicated that McCain had beaten Romney by a slim margin, leaving Giuliani trailing in third.

It was a troubling time for Giuliani who witnessed the lead that he had gained after the previous primary election crumbling. Giuliani found himself just two points behind McCain before the Florida primary. The opinion polls sidelined Giuliani and Mike Huckabee focusing more on McCain and Romney. On the other hand, the democratic candidates were avoiding Florida as the state had violated rules by changing the date of its vote.







Another setback that Giuliani encountered was having Florida’s Republican Governor Charlie Crist endorse McCain on Saturday. This was an unexpected blow for Giuliani who had been clearly anticipating Crist’s support.

A win in Florida was critical to Giuliani’s bid for the Republican Party’s nomination in the race for the White House. The winner in Florida gains a large number of Electoral College votes that will add a critical momentum to his campaign. It is because of this that Giuliani had staked a lot in winning at Florida. Giuliani had shifted focus slightly in his campaign. He had moved from discussing terrorism to acting as a virtual referee between McCain and Romney who were backbiting amongst each other. Giuliani also paid more attention to the press by addressing them on the way to Orlando’s Hard Rock Hotel. This was a rare appearance as, unlike John McCain, Giuliani has been press shy for most of his campaign.

With two thirds of the votes, having been counted it seems obvious that McCain will be the clear winner. If this is the case, he will have secured 57 delegates from this primary, which may be enough for him to secure a clear lead over his Republican competitors for Super Tuesday.