Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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Goodbye for Rudy? What Went Wrong ...
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
8:50 PM
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Much has been written and spoken about Rudy's flawed strategy of putting all his eggs in the Florida basket. So why did he do it?
Some people argue turning exclusively to Florida was an act of desperation.
... Rubbish.
Rudy could have campaigned hard -- and done reasonably well -- in states like New Hampshire and Michigan. Granted, he may not have won either state, but he would have been relevant and respectable. The trick would have been to campaign hard in those states in order to keep his name and face in front of the public eye -- while simultaneously letting it be known that he was planning on winning in Florida and on Super Tuesday. Granted, it would have taken some finesse to pull off -- but it could have been done.
But Rudy's team was afraid that if he tried hard but lost, he would shatter the facade of his own inevitability. So he sought to avoid losing by not fully competing, like those poor souls who "know neither victory nor defeat." In this regard, he was cursed by his early front-runner status. He conducted his campaign very much like a football team who has a big lead, starts to play conservative, and ends up losing.
After New Hampshire, Giuliani went straight to Florida and stayed there. Interestingly, the more he campaigned in Florida -- and the more the other candidates campaigned elsewhere -- the worse Giuliani did.
I'm am convinced that Giuliani believed that if he came to Florida -- and campaigned hard there -- that he would win. After all, you don't get to be Mayor of New York without having a bit of an ego, and you don't get to be a presidential a front-runner without being a "winner." But the problem with being a winner is that winners are used to having things go their way. Rudy was used to being the best pol in New York, but now he's running a national campaign against other seasoned professionals, like McCain and Romney. They don't roll over easy.
Some folks will say that this decline was actually because the more voters get to know Rudy, the less they like him. It is without a doubt true that Rudy turned-off some voters. He travels with an entourage and is ushered in and out of places by his advance men.
On a personal note, while Rudy's campaign was kind enough to organize interviews between me and their top-notch Giuliani surrogates, Giuliani, himself, remained aloof. Like many reporters and bloggers, I've been on the Straight Talk Express, and have attended some behind-the-scenes meetings with Mitt Romney, but very few bloggers ever got to talk to Rudy (although I did try to talk his campaign manager into organizing a blogger call with Hizzoner).
But the bottom line is that while Rudy was campaigning in Florida, other candidates were garnering press attention in the states that mattered at the moment. And while Rudy unveiled the best tax plan of any candidate in the race, the press paid scant attention.
It was also astonishing that Giuliani failed to come out swinging at the last Florida debate. That one I'll never figure out.
It would be hard to find a historical precedent for a campaign that was in first place for so long -- and raised so much money -- yet failed to come in even third place in any primary or caucus, and ended with a single delegate. It's almost unbelievable.
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The Stupid Party
The RNC wants an amnesty candidate.
Don't vote for one.
Another amnesty will result in Democrat majorities for decades, or until they are supplanted by the La Raza Party, why doesn't the RNC know that? How stupid do you have to be to import voters for the opposition at the same time you alienate your own voters? Nominating any of the amnesty supporters is a losing proposition, we will not support them. If the GOP intends to surrender our sovereignty and abandon the rule of law, they will find in November 2008, that they still have their big money/cheap labor donors, but they do not have voters. GOP-RIP |
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Why do people let the media pick their presidents? The media Romney controls...this whole election is a joke and im giong to sit it out if Huckabee is not on the ballot...this man has the best message of all...he wants to unite not divide our party...he has a great vision for America...but for some reason people do not want to see this??? Just look at the Fairtax...our economy needs this bad....Huckabee has my vote |
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Good job of having Ron Paul's back
c11bar, you compared Paul's debate smackdown of Rudy to Paul vs Huckabee on Iraq. My impression of that famous interchange was that Huck actually AGREED with Paul, that we really don't belong there, but on the other hand we don't just turn tail and run (like the Dems would have us do). How'd he put it, "we broke it, now it's our job to fix it?"
I am so glad to see Rudy out of the race. Having just the 4 Musketeers on CNN last night gave Huck & Paul way more talk time.
Huckabee/Paul '08! |
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His heart wasn't in it. Clearly at some point around a year ago Rudy had to make a choice at what level of campaign to run, and he decided that he'd make a low-effort stab at it. If the presidency fell in his lap he'd take it, otherwise he'd bow out and at least spent a warm winter in Florida.
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I don't know who was advising Rudy, but this guy should NEVER work a campaign again. This was BEYOND dumb. |
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Rudy learned the hard way during one of the first debates that you can't take on a truth-teller with indignation and misinformation about the reasons terrorists attacked on 911. That was the beginning of the demise of Rudy's candidacy.
The other candidates have been very careful in taking on the truth-teller. When Huckabee tried during a debate, he was exposed as just trying to save face in Iraq and using the lives of our soldiers to do so.
McCain even dabbled a bit but was quickly rebuffed by the truth-teller.
Let's all vote for the truth-teller Ron Paul!!! |
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Why does everyone think that their particular candidate of choice can "rally the country together" or "bring bi-partisan harmony" where Rs and Ds will start holding hands and singing Kum-ba-ya?
McCain can't even rally his own party.
Its the truth. Until there are term limits for Senators and Representatives there is no hope of unity. |
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See? I'm not at all surprised this happened--Rudy has a habit of wimping out in really tough races. This happened when Rudy was supposed to run against she who `cannot be named and, well, the rest is history. |
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I don't agree with his stances on abortion, gay rights, and gun control...
but I respected the fact that he didn't try to come up with some cockamamie "I had a conversion" BS.
He stuck to what he believed and told me how he would appeal to me.
He wasn't gutless...this who I am and I want to persuade you to believe me.
I have ZERO respect for Romney.
He insults my intelligence with his "oh I'm a conservative" BS and the conservative pundits carrying his water for him insult my intelligence as well. |
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"McCain a true Ameerican" You are not very smart are you? |
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He was a sorry candidate. Besides that he has a lousy taste in endorsements. |
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this years Dallas Cowboys.
Honestly, I don't think people liked Rudy much once they saw him up close and personal. He has an arrogant attitude, and America has had enough of that kind of thing from Bush through the past 7 years.
It's time to turn a new page in this country, and start putting our country, first and foremost, above political party affiliation. This is the only way to break the gridlock in DC, and to start the job of turning America back into the competent world leader that the rest of the world turns to in admiration and respect. We need to become the world leader in clean energy, which can if done right be a boon to America for the next century - with great job creation and retention part of the benefit of getting off the teat of foreign oil.
Which will in turn negate our need to go play games in the oil rich countries of the world.
Bush and the phony conservatives in DC did much damage to our country in the last 7 years, and Rudy would have been a continuation of the same. As would have Romney, who I have to say is probably finished.
McCain is a true American, who will rally the country together if elected...the same can be said for Obama on the Democratic side. These two men are authentic, the only authentic candidates running, and we now will have a great choice between two great optimistic uniting Americans come this November.
-America comes first- |
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