Bloggers for Rudy

One month ahead of the all-important Florida primary, Rudy plants flags in the Sunshine State…

Palm Beach Post article

Orlando Sentinel article

Mayor Rudy Giuliani released the following statement on the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto:

“The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is a tragic event for Pakistan and for democracy in Pakistan. Her murderers must be brought to justice and Pakistan must continue the path back to democracy and the rule of law. Her death is a reminder that terrorism anywhere — whether in New York, London, Tel-Aviv or Rawalpindi — is an enemy of freedom. We must redouble our efforts to win the Terrorists’ War on Us.”

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On Fox, Mayor Giuliani stressed stability in Pakistan as the most important immediate goal.  He spoke of the importance of crushing a resurgence of the Taliban, remaining on offense against Islamic terrorism, and our military presence in the Middle East.  He demonstrated wisdom and experience in focusing on the need to find facts before jumping to conclusions or taking action.

“The Islamic terrorists would make a terrible mistake if they confuse our democracy for weakness.” - Rudy Giuliani

The New York Times has “corrected” its much-hyped slam piece on Rudy over supposed accounting irregularities involved with security during trips he took to visit Judith Nathan (who, by the way, would make a much better First Lady than Bill Clinton).

Read the story here.  As expected, this ‘correction’ was buried on page A21.  And, as expected, I have found no other MSM outlet even mentioning the correction.

Go Rudy.

Heavy praise for Rudy from Foster’s Daily Democrat:

…a candidate who is not afraid to lead; a candidate who understands the threat to our way of life; a candidate who will not talk down to the people; a candidate who believes in government as a servant of the people….Rudy Giuliani represents the core of Republican thought. He is the kind of Republican who will appeal to the people who elected and re-elected Ronald Reagan. He is not afraid to go to the people for his strength, knowing that in America it is the people who rule and that those they elect serve.

Read more here.

However you choose to read the ad pullback, there’s only one way to interpret this story.

Go Rudy.

There are at least two ways to interpret the news that the campaign is pulling some ads in New Hampshire (story).

Maybe Huck’s rise and McCain’s recent surge (we know how he feels about surges) (story) are playing right into Rudy’s hands and effectively doing the work for him.  The idea is that Rudy needs to keep the pre-Florida states from giving any one candidate enough momentum to challenge Rudy in Florida.  Then Rudy can use Florida for momentum going into February 5th.  With others contending well with Romney in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Rudy can focus his resources where it counts.

On the other hand, maybe Rudy’s feeling the heat in New Hampshire and is circling the wagons in Florida.  This line of thought suggests that Rudy is shifting resources to reinforce his ‘Florida firewall.’

The difference might be subtle, but it’s important.  It goes right to the heart of the morale inside the campaign - are we getting a lucky break or are we scrambling?

Or could it be that resources are running thin enough to force some tough choices…choices that are more about budget strategy than political strategy?

Go Rudy.

Drudge says the DNC is pulling for Huckabee (see story here).  Do Republican primary voters care?

In an election where Republicans need independent voters to keep the left-wing machine out of the White House, this is not the way to do it… Huckabee calls homosexuality aberrant, unnatural, sinful; wants to isolate HIV patients