Boca Raton, FL — It is not often that Giuliani senior adviser Tony Carbonetti agrees to an on-camera interview but with Communications Director Katie Levinson distracted for a moment, I was able to throw a couple questions to “Carbo” following tonight’s debate.
The highlights:
– His reaction to dipping Florida polls: “The (New York) Giants are 12 point underdogs. I don’t care what the pollsters say, you still got to play the game.”
–He calls New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger an “idiot,” in reaction to the Times’ editorial endorsing John McCain and harshly criticizing Giuliani.
During the section of tonight’s debate where the candidates got to ask each other questions, Rudy attempted to distinguish himself with his support for the National Catastrophe Fund by asking Romney (who has been equivocal) and McCain (who opposes it) if they support the fund. Romney and McCain both directly avoided saying no and Giuliani probably hopes Floridians can read between the lines, but it still didn’t really hit home since Rudy didn’t have a chance to follow up. Neither did the moderators.
1. Romney said he supported the fund but organized at a regional level. (Still equivocal but he definitely took some buzz out the question by initially saying “yes.”)
2. McCain avoided a no answer by saying he would work with the states to develop a similar insurance bailout and priced the Cat Fund at $200 billion “with no way to pay for it” making him sound fiscally conservative.
It’s not a surprise given the GOP hatred for the Gray Lady that the Rudy and Romney camps would jump on the New York Times endorsement of John McCain. But, the Giuliani campaign beat the Romney camp in sending out the “In Case You Missed It” highlighting the endorsement. While walking into the debate the Romney camp chuckled learning of the endorsement saying THEY were going to put out an “In Case You Missed It” on it.
It makes sense that they didn’t send it because it goes after the former Massachusetts governor, but that is nothing compared to what it says about Rudy. Read below:
“The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square.”
“Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn’t share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges.”
“The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.”
“The other candidates offer no better choices.”
“Mitt Romney’s shape-shifting rivals that of Mr. Giuliani. It is hard to find an issue on which he has not repositioned himself to the right since he was governor of Massachusetts. It is impossible to figure out where he stands or where he would lead the country.”
During the first 10 minutes of the debate, Rudy Giuliani has yet to criticize John McCain but his press shop is certainly not letting the AZ Senator off the hook. It is something we have noticed on the trail–Rudy plays nice while his surrogates and press folks hit hard.
A taste:
MCCAIN HAS VOTED FOR HIGHER TAXES MORE THAN 50 TIMES(more…)
Boca Raton, FL — While recent polling out of Florida makes the GOP primary look increasingly like a two-man battle between John McCain and Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani is arguing that we should not count him out yet.
An internal Giuliani memo suggests that the most recent polls report “conflicting results,” noting that five public polls released in the last 24 hours show McCain leading in two polls, Romney leading in two polls and a three-way tie in the last. It also argues that absentee and early voting may work in the campaign’s advantage since Giuliani has had the state to himself for the last three weeks.
But the memo does not account for the latest Mason-Dixon poll out today, showing Romney at 30%, McCain at 26% and Giuliani at 18%, further proof that despite the memo, the former NYC mayor continues to lose ground in the Sunshine State.
Read the memo below:
A handful of FL public polls released over the past few days are reporting conflicting results. These latest rounds of fluctuating public polls indicate that the race is wide open and public polling is volatile.
There were 5 public polls released over the past 24 hours, claiming different candidates to be leading.
Further complicating matters, 3 of these polls were fielded on the exact same nights (1/20-1/22). Insider Advantage reports Romney leading, St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald reports McCain leading, and Strategic Vision reports a 3 way tie.
Estero, FL — Despite spending more than 50 days in Florida during the last year and having the state to himself for the last three weeks (during which he launched 8 TV ads), Rudy Giuliani continues to slide in the latest polls. The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times latest poll show Giuliani tied for third place in his must win state, down 20 points from a November poll.
John McCain 25
Mitt Romney 23
Rudy Giuliani 15
Mike Huckabee 15
(Margin of error is +/-5%)
Giuliani’s response today to the falling polls? “I think the reality is we are gaining support, I think your going to see that over the course of the next three or four days. Our campaign is now in high gear. I think the issues that we are hitting on are the key ones to the people of Florida. And the most important one is proven leadership which the people of Florida want. And I think they want someone who understands how to turn around an economy, which I have done before. And I think they want someone who can lead this country in the terrorists; war against us. As those ideas seep through, and get through, we are gonna do very well here….I believe we are going to win here. This has to go day by day. Each day you gotta work at it, and each day you make progress.”
Though one important caveat to the polling numbers in the Sunshine State is the fact that Floridians have the opportunity to early vote (began on Jan. 14) and absentee vote. Nearly 270,000 registered GOPers have already cast their ballots. Additionally, Giuliani’s campaign has been conducting a very aggressive get out the vote operation and pushing potential supporters to vote early, meaning polls in the lead up to the election and day of exit polls may fail to accurately predict the ultimate outcome.
Over the course of the last two days, a slew of polls were released showing Sen. John McCain nearly tied with or now edging out Rudy Giuliani in Feb 5 primary states the former NYC mayor’s campaign had considered guaranteed winners (New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware.)
Additionally, the McCain campaign has issued the following press releases in the last two days:
01.23.08 Delaware Leaders Join Supporters Of John McCain
01.22.08 John McCain Announces Connecticut Leadership Team
01.22.08 John McCain 2008 Announces New York Leadership Team
01.22.08 John McCain 2008 Announces New Jersey Leadership Team
01.22.08 Connecticut State Senator Anthony Guglielmo Endorses John McCain For President
01.22.08 John McCain 2008 Announces New Jersey Legislative Endorsements
01.22.08 Senator Alfonse D’Amato Endorses John McCain For President
Message to Rudy: McCain is ready for battle on your home turf on February 5th.
Naples, FL — The International Association of Fire Fighters sent out their first direct mail to Florida voters today attacking Rudy Giuliani’s judgment and pre/post 911 leadership.
In the mailer, they declare: “Rudy Giuliani isn’t qualified to be President. he shamelessly uses the events of 9/11 for his own political gain. The truth is, Giuliani used poor judgment leading up to and on the day of the attacks. He was unprepared to protect New York, and he is unprepared to lead our country.”
The mailer–which includes a photo of Giuliani’s back turned–specifically targets the former New York City mayor for showing “bad judgment” and hiring “unqualified yes-men” and includes a testimonial quote from the father of a firefighter who died on 9/11 who calls Rudy a “coward.”
The piece targets 178,000 Republican women between the ages of 40 and 80 (security moms), according to IAFF President Harold Schaitberger. IAFF members have been protesting Giuliani at several of his Florida events during the last few weeks.
The IAFF–a union that includes 288,000 members—leans Democrat and endorsed Chris Dodd for president last year. In 2004 they endorsed John Kerry. Even so, Schaitberger says that the IAFF has only historically promoted their candidate and has rarely run a campaign opposing others.
“This is very unusual and rare for us. We have a history of supporting candidates, not opposing them,” he said in a phone interview. “But Giuliani’s actions in our view were so egregious that we decided this is in one of the times we had to go after somebody.”
The IAFF has been waiting for Rudy in Florida for a few months and Schaitberger said, “we will be dogging him till the 29th.”
“I’m supporting Rudy Giuliani because of the things he’s done. Jim Riches and IAFF do not speak for me or for all firefighters. Firefighters from across the country are supporting Rudy Giuliani for all the things he has done to advocate for firemen and first responders and that he will do for us as President of the United States.” –campaign national firefighter chair, Larry Peterson. (Also a division chief with the Jacksonville Fire Department.)
Naples, FL — Rudy Giuliani takes a shot at John McCain and Mitt Romney (albeit subtle) for their lack of support for a national catastrophe fund he argues will lower insurance rates in a web-only ad the campaign released Wednesday.
“Some say we don’t need a national catastrophe fund. That FEMA can handle disasters,” the ad begins, referring to comments McCain made this week without directly using his name. Moving onto Romney, the ad continues, “others say they haven’t looked at it yet and want to sit down with insurance companies first.”
Giuliani has made his support for the fund one of his key talking points in the Florida, where voters in the hurricane prone state are coping with increasingly high insurance rates. The campaign’s state chairman, Bill McCollum, called McCain “out of touch” with FL voters this week for his opposition to the fund, but Giuliani has been reluctant to criticize his rivals directly, instead reaffirming that he is the “only” supporter.
The ad concludes: “Only one Republican candidate has proven experience dealing with disaster. Only one will fight for a national catastrophe fund. And only one has a plan to lower rates and fix the insurance mess. Tested in crisis. Ready to lead. Rudy Giuliani. The only one for Florida.”
Fla. Residents Who Weathered Andrew Warily Eye Ike Ike is still far out in the Atlantic, but it’s getting a close look from those who weathered 1992’s Andrew, the devastating Category 5 storm against which all other Florida hurricanes are measured.
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