Giuliani Prepares to Exit, Back McCain

[Wretched Excess]

Giuliani Prepares to Exit, Back McCain

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Rudy Giuliani, who bet his presidential hopes on Florida only to come in third, prepared to quit the race Tuesday and endorse his friendliest rival, John McCain.

The former New York mayor stopped short of announcing he was stepping down, but delivered a valedictory speech that was more farewell than fight-on.

Giuliani finished a distant third to winner McCain and second-place finisher Mitt Romney. Republican officials said Giuliani would endorse McCain on Wednesday in California. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the public announcement.

"The responsibility of leadership doesn't end with a single campaign, it goes on and you continue to fight for it," Giuliani said, as supporters with tight smiles crowded behind him. "We ran a campaign that was uplifting."

Asked directly if he was dropping out of the race, Giuliani said only: "I'm going to California."

Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to debate in Simi Valley Wednesday night.

Tuesday's result was a remarkable collapse for Giuliani. Last year, he occupied the top of national polls and seemed destined to turn conventional wisdom on end by running as a moderate Republican who supported abortion rights, gay rights and gun control.

"Elections are about fighting for a cause larger than ourselves," he said at one point, echoing one of McCain's most popular refrains.

The results seriously decimated Giuliani's unconventional strategy, which relied heavily on Florida to launch him into the coast-to-coast Feb. 5 nominating contests.

He largely bypassed the early voting states, figuring that the early states would produce multiple winners and no front-runner.

But Florida proved to be less than hospitable. The state's top two Republicans - Sen. Mel Martinez and Gov. Charlie Crist - endorsed McCain. And Giuliani, who once led in state polls, saw his support swiftly erode.

After seven contests, Giuliani had just one delegate and four sixth-place finishes. His third-place showing in Florida was his best. He finished fourth in New Hampshire.

Giuliani's bid for the nomination was based on his leadership. The only question was how many voters would follow.

His stalwart performance as New York mayor in the tense days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks earned him national magazine covers, international accolades and widespread praise. Yet, Giuliani was always a Republican anomaly - a moderate-to-liberal New Yorker who backed abortion rights, gay rights and gun control in a party dominated by Southern conservatives.

And even though several of his rivals were divorced and remarried, none had the dissolution of their second marriage and trysts with current wife Judith Nathan attract as much attention.

In the early days of the presidential campaign, Giuliani's mayoral record and familiar name propelled him to the lead in the polls, but voters admitted they had lots to learn about him and his positions on the issues.

Story

not that many months ago, I was thinking seriously about voting for rudy.

[Lord Undies]

For a fleeting moment, I too considered Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!   

How sorry a state does our field of candidates have to be in to actually think, even fleetingly, about supporting a goon like Rudy Giuliani?  This is going to be a long election year. 

[Wretched Excess]

For a fleeting moment, I too considered Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!   

How sorry a state does our field of candidates have to be in to actually think, even fleetingly, about supporting a goon like Rudy Giuliani?  This is going to be a long election year. 

aside from being pro-choice and being in favor of most forms of gun control, what isn't there to like?

seriously, he is right on the war, and had a strong track record in managing that cultural morass called NYC back from the edge of falling in upon itself.  and he had a great record on crime.  his role on 9/11 and the aftermath is pretty well known.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

The GOP is fast becoming the party of domestic appeasement and vote pandering.

We thought they wanted smaller taxes, conservative SCOTUS judges, strong immigration enforcement, weining the US off of centralized welfare and a strong national defense; but Rudy's endorsement isn't so much a nod to McCain as a failure of courage to believe Romney's conservativism can win the day. So in essence the GOP will end up nominating a democrat to fight a democrat. Maybe McCain can beat Hillary--only because she is the greater of 2 evils--but he stands no chance against Obama. Alas, Hillary is in serious jeopardy of losing her nomination and the hemorrhage of liberal desertions cannot be staunched.

If McCain wins the nomination? Well, we've lived with higher taxes and welfare rolls before and know we could muddle through it again if we had to but the conservatives will desert the GOP because we know immigration (read: sovereignty) and SCOTUS judges are off the menu. These are two issues that will set the country back by at least another generation. We'll endure pain but we will not leave it to our children. Rudy is making a serious strategic mistake in the hope of aiding a tactical victory.

Don't even get me started on the asinine marginalization of religious conservatives Huckabee was able to affect. The Iowa voters leapt at him like a tub of Kool-Aid, now they are political laughingstocks.

So where will conservatives go?

[SilverOrchid]

YES! One less baby-killing RINO. 

[DixieBelle]

The GOP is fast becoming the party of domestic appeasement and vote pandering.

We thought they wanted smaller taxes, conservative SCOTUS judges, strong immigration enforcement, weining the US off of centralized welfare and a strong national defense; but Rudy's endorsement isn't so much a nod to McCain as a failure of courage to believe Romney's conservativism can win the day. So in essence the GOP will end up nominating a moonbat to fight a moonbat. Maybe McCain can beat Hillary--only because she is the greater of 2 evils--but he stands no chance against Obama. Alas, Hillary is in serious jeopardy of losing her nomination and the hemorrhage of liberal desertions cannot be staunched.

If McCain wins the nomination? Well, we've lived with higher taxes and welfare rolls before and know we could muddle through it again if we had to but the conservatives will desert the GOP because we know immigration (read: sovereignty) and SCOTUS judges are off the menu. These are two issues that will set the country back by at least another generation. We'll endure pain but we will not leave it to our children. Rudy is making a serious strategic mistake in the hope of aiding a tactical victory.

Don't even get me started on the asinine marginalization of religious conservatives Huckabee was able to affect. The Iowa voters leapt at him like a tub of Kool-Aid, now they are political laughingstocks.

So where will conservatives go?

That is the $64,000 question!!! Fred was the answer and now????