Isn’t going to happen. He’s raising money like crazy. He’s still the #1 candidate, regardless of what Freepers think. Fred might change that. But he has to be on stage to change anything.
Guiliani has pretty much peaked in his support. He will not benefit much as other candidates drop out -- that support will go mostly to his biggest rivals, which are probably going to be Romney and Thompson. If one of those two pulls well ahead of the other, he immediately becomes the favorite to win.
And, as for Thompson, he's managed to change quite a bit of this race without having gotten on that stage yet.
You being a history writer, I cannot believe you don't recognize history in the making. He is a major player without entering yet. And now that he is raising money...
I don't know how he could be playing this any better IMHO.