Florida strategy ridiculous or brilliant? [Giuliani]

[Jed K]

What are your thoughts on his strong push in FL? Is ignoring Michigan and South Carolina a huge mistake, or do you think it will pay off for him in the long run?

It's one thing if he wins FL, but if he doesn't?

[sunken]

I'm from Florida and he's been blasting the airwaves with ads that IMO hurt him more than help. They are all strictly pandering ads that assume that people in Florida apparently know nothing about politics and distribution of power in Washington. To me, they show him as a one trick pony who will say pretty much anything to get elected.

For instance, one of his ads claims that he will cut taxes the most in the history of this country on his first day in office. I would hope that any president would settle in, analyze all the information available to him, before making such a decision. Not only that, but he doesn't write the laws concerning tax cuts. The best he can do is suggest to Congress to pass a tax cut, or wait until his budget is written up for Congress to approve. That's certainly not going to happen on day 1.

His other ad shows every bad guy that has been in the news and includes Bhutto's assassination. His point is that there will be things that will happen and we need someone tested and ready. Tested? What does a mayor know about foreign policy? If anyone has a grasp of what is available and how the presidential channels work, it would be Hilary. She at least has a real president to advise her. Guiliani cleaning NY up after 9/11 is hardly the same as dealing with foreign countries, restoring faith in the US, etc. If by tested, he means he's ready to blow something up then I guess he is that.

But to answer the original question, I think all this push in Florida is a bit ridiculous as well. First of all, Floridians are wondering if our vote is even going to count. Secondly, if you ignore states to try and get other states, you run the risk of alienating those states in the general election. I think that the democrats are also making that mistake here in Florida and I'm sorry to see them make that decision.

[Jed K]

Good post. I agree with most everything you said.

Yes, Giuliani did a good job handling 9/11; however, he can't ride that forever. He doesn't seem to be showing the same amount of fight as the other candidates are showing, and that's not the kind of person I want as my next president.

Anyway, things are getting dangerous for him. He's in a four-way tie in Florida right now, and I'd be quite surprised if he wins. If he does, however, his campaign may get back on track and follow with wins in both New York and New Jersey, but... it's a long shot to say the least.

[sunken]

Of course polls don't mean anything really as we saw in New Hampshire, but Guiliani is now trailing in third place by 10% and 6% against Romney and McCain respectively, according to the latest numbers. I think the change in polling has a lot to do with the sudden pop up of ads from the pair on TV, where Guiliani has cut back on his due to funding. Of course, the wildcard will be the early voting where Guiliani was the sole campaigner at the time. And tonight's debate may also have something to do with who wins what.

[Jed K]

Well, today's FL results have answered my initial question: his strategy was ridiculous. Not only that, it was also both flawed and lazy, and the outcome doesn't come as any surprise to me whatsoever. I also think it was extremely arrogant of him to bank everything on FL and think it would somehow pay off for him in the long run.

Time for him to drop out and support John McCain I guess...