So far the two biggest anti-McCain forces are Tom Delay and Rush Limbaugh. Not big influences in California.
Remember the polls showing Rudy as a national front runner and the best Republican to take on Hillary Clinton? Those days are long past as Rudy takes hit after hit and loss after loss. When he loses Florida will he drop out? Is he really running for VP?
Now that Rudy Giuliani has had one of the fastest free falls in modern American history who will local Republicans be supporting next?
I say John McCain even though he clearly was never their first choice.
He went from front runner to second tier candidate in weeks. He said he wasn't running in New Hampshire but still spent millions there on a major defeat. Ron Paul has been thumping him. Ron Paul has a better claim to be allowed in debates then Rudy does ( more money + higher results in primaries ).
Him, Fred Thompson, and Duncan Hunter should form a club.
If I am wrong how does he come back? If I am too hard on the guy what can he do at this point to have a shot?
It might be tough watching Republicans get behind John McCain after all the things they have said about him.
The rationale for Rudy's campaign was never that he upheld the values of the Republican party but instead that he could beat the Democrats. With that myth in tatters his campaign has no reason to continue except for personal ego.
By Paul Steinhauser
CNN deputy political director
"Looking ahead to the general election, the GOP has several matters to address. The poll indicates Democrats are much more enthusiastic than Republicans about voting so far this year.
"If that pattern persists, turnout may be a concern for the GOP in November," Holland said.
When all voters nationwide are asked to evaluate the major candidates in both parties, only one Republican candidate, McCain, fares well on issues and personal qualities. Most registered voters say Clinton and Obama -- as well as McCain -- have the necessary leadership skills and vision to be president. But most voters don't feel that way about Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee.
The same is true on issues. A majority of registered voters nationwide say McCain, Obama and Clinton agree with them on issues that matter, but a majority of voters disagree with Romney, Giuliani and Huckabee on important issues."
Will Ron Paul beat him in both states today?
Joe Biden said of Rudy Giuliani: "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, and a verb and 9/11."
Rudy's fall in the polls shows that Republican voters are concerned and want to hear about more than this.
I think Rudy's fall in the polls is due to strategic mistakes by he and his campaign staff. They obviously placed far too much weight on his early national poll numbers thinking this would carry him through the early primary states, which has proven to be a huge strategic error.
Had he invested more time and money in the early states, he may have had a better chance. Now he's got zero momentum heading into Florida on Jan. 29th. As I've said before, if he doesn't score big in Florida, he's out.
What about his prospects as a VP running mate though? I think both he and Hucakabee (and maybe even Thompson) have some potential here.
It is spin 9i11iani didn't try hard in New Hampshire. He spent millions there. Why would you bother to talk about him as a VP when Ron Paul keeps knocking him around. In some states Ron Paul doubled 9i11iani's vote totals.
The voters have spoken, and they have rejected 9i11iani.
Now shut up and start supporting McCain like we know you will.
Maybe take a sip of kool-aid and the bitter pill of liberal McCain will go down easier.
The voters haven't spoken yet until Feb. 5th, as far as I'm concerned. The delegate count in these early primary states is so minimal it's not a factor in the outcome of the race. All it provides is momentum (or not) for these candidates.
We'll see what happens. I do believe Rudy would be a strong contender for VP. Him and Huckabee both!
After these five primaries its not the delegate count you should be looking at but the voter trends for each candidate. Unfortunately for those who like to see their President dress up in gowns and pancake makeup Rudy's trends are locking him firmly in the basement. Rudy's early supporters across the spectrum have gravitated to other candidates; a lot of them have moving over to McCain. NYC's Mob Mayor would need to start showing signs of stigmata on national prime time TV to get them back.
Had an interesting conversation with a well-known conservative wag and though I would never breach a confidence from either political extreme we did talk about some public info inre the increasing length of time absentee voters are holding on to their ballots. Used to be, ABs were received in the mail and sent in rather early. This cycle those ABs have been held by voters in record numbers, presumably as they dig deeper into the facts behind the candidates and issues before making up their minds and returning them. I think this could be a very good sign for voter participation in the future and can't help but wonder if such scrutiny isn't hurting Rudy...and whether other candidates will be tripped up by the voters' closer attention.
GS, stay tuned. We need to see how the illustrious New York Mayor is going to do on Tuesday in Florida. If he gets shellacked there, that may be the beginning of the end for Rudy G.