Posted on 01/29/2008 9:03:53 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — A number of prominent Texas Republicans, including Gov. Rick Perry, gambled substantial political capital and financial support on the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani.
Now with Giuliani's disappointing showing in Florida's Republican primary Tuesday night and the possibility that he could quit the race, the Texans are faced with a choice: either stick with Giuilani or look for a better bet.
On Tuesday, two Giuliani supporters — Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace and Stephen Payne, a Houston fundraiser for George W. Bush's campaigns — said they would throw their support to Arizona Sen. John McCain if the former New York mayor drops out of the campaign.
Others, such as Perry, took more of a wait-and-see attitude.
Giuliani, who trailed far behind McCain and Mitt Romney on Tuesday night, was scheduled to fly to California for a debate in the run-up to that state's primary on Feb 5, one of 21 such contests on Super Tuesday.
But he is also expected to re-evaluate his chances of competing in the primaries, which are expected to be extremely expensive because of their size and number.
Giuliani also could face the embarrassing prospect of losing in his home state of New York on Super Tuesday. Polls show him in a tight race there with McCain.
If the Feb. 5 contests do not result in a clear front-runner for the nomination, the campaign moves on to Texas and Ohio, which hold their votes March 4.
Although he led the GOP field in early polls, Giuliani chose to follow a risky strategy of devoting most of his time and resources to Florida, with its wealth of delegates and former New Yorkers, while ignoring the early primary states.
This allowed McCain and Romney to build momentum and overtake him here.
Part of Giuliani's strategy was also aimed at gaining a foothold in Texas, which he did after joining the Houston law firm that became known as Bracewell & Giuliani.
With the help of the firm's managing partner, Pat Oxford, who became Giuliani's campaign chairman, the former mayor raised millions of dollars in the state and picked up endorsements from Perry as well as Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks and oilman T. Boone Pickens.
Among his early backers was Wallace, a political and social conservative, who said he took some heat for initially backing Giuliani, who has spoken out for a woman's right to choose an abortion and for gun control.
But Wallace said Giuliani's appeal was, in part, driven by polls that showed he was the best candidate to beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
But with Giuliani's political stumbles in New Hampshire and elsewhere, the electability argument disappeared. The most recent polls indicate that McCain is the only Republican who could be competitive with either Clinton or Barack Obama.
Wallace said that if Giuliani were to withdraw, his support would go to McCain, a decision the Sugar Land mayor said he suspects many Giuliani supporters would take. "It's just that a lot of people see him (McCain) as a leader," Wallace said.
Payne, who also was among the early supporters of Giuliani in Houston, said McCain is "my second choice."
McCain has drawn on the expertise of a number of influential Texans, including Tom Loeffler, the lobbyist and former GOP congressman from San Antonio who has led the fundraising effort for the Arizona senator, and Mark McKinnon, the Austin media consultant who advised Bush's campaign.
McKinnon said that when it comes to voters, Giuliani and McCain share "much the same pool of fish."
Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst, said Giuliani and McCain attract moderate Republicans and independents interested in national security and leadership qualities.
Rothenberg said that if Giuliani were to remain in the race for Super Tuesday, he would likely hurt McCain's chances more than the others.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, tends to attract more traditional Republicans while Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, has attracted the evangelical wing of the party.
A number of prominent Giuliani backers, including Perry, have remained coy about their intentions.
Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle would only say that if Giuliani drops out of the race, the governor "will support the nominee."
Rothenberg said Perry could easily explain why he chose a candidate who failed. "At the end of the day, Rick Perry could say he picked the best candidate but he ran such a weird campaign," said Rothenberg.
Oxford, Giuliani's law partner who has traveled with the candidate in Florida, suggested that he is not interested in working for another campaign.
"I'm a Rudy guy," he said. "I don't see me jumping. Nor do I see them asking."
The Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau contributed to this story.
bennett.roth@chron.com
Yeah, piranha.
From what I see, Crist promised Guiliani the endorsement. He pushed him off, and then the last minute switched and screwed Rudy.
The Rino Republican establishment has already decided who the nominee will be. When I saw Crist, Martinez, and others march out on the stage with McCain, I saw the fix was in. They are going to shove McCain and illegal immigrants down our throat.
Not me. I never thought I would say this, but I might sit this one out. Maybe we need a marxist lib in the White House to wake people up, like Carter did in the late 70’s. The electorate has started to take prosperity and good times for granted.
We need to fight like h*ll to deny a Texas win to that RINO John McCain.
RINO MCCAIN DOESNT FIT - VOTE FOR MITT.
Why have Freepers drank the koolade of the most
liberal republican “Willard Mitt Romney”?
Willard would be the worst.
LBJ with an R by his name.
Yes! Just what we need!
A socialist as a President and a supermajority in the Senate because diehards sit out the election. There will be no viable third-party conservative candidate, at least one the will pull people out to vote.
Wake up, stop being selfish, and realize this is about our country and not your perfect candidate living in the White House. This isn’t directed at you solely; I feel like this is a message to many here. A socialist will win the White House if we sit this one out. Plus, to not vote? What a slap in the face to those who went to war to ensure your right to vote.
From what I see, Crist promised Guiliani the endorsement. He pushed him off, and then the last minute switched and screwed Rudy.
_____________________________________________________________
To return the favor, Rudy endorses McCain. Doesn’t make sense.
Because they don’t want to admit they lost.
Adding 12 million liberal voters should make it permanent.
Boo Hoo!! Poor Governor Perry. He endorsed Rudy Julie Annie big time. It’s gonna be a long Summer and cool Fall for Governor “Good Hair”.
I resent being lectured to by people who don’t understand the true disdain conservatives feel for John McCain. He has screwed us over again and again and again. He is the reason that many of the great conservative laws passed by the House in the early 2000s would get stalled in the Senate.
You see we love our country and we really do love our party, but right now we just don’t feel like getting stabbed anymore by the ring leader of the betrayers.
Ari Fleischer just said something very interesting on CNN...he said among Rudy Guiliani voters in FL, their second choice was Mitt Romney (not McCain) by 5 percent. That seems to go against the conventional wisdom.
All the anti-American, pro amnesty, pro-NAU people like Perry will back McAztlan now.
The GOP is toast in 2008
No worries, McAmnesty will make sure the TTC comes to fruition .... That’s why the Rudy will endorse McPain ....
Explosive McCain Temper
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1961200/posts
Defending His Amnesty Bill, Sen. McCain Lost His Temper And “Screamed, ‘F*ck You!’ At Texas Sen. John Cornyn” (R-TX). “Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday. In a heated dispute over immigration-law overhaul, McCain screamed, ‘F— you!’ at Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who had been raising concerns about the legislation. ‘This is chickens—stuff,’ McCain snapped at Cornyn, according to several people in the room off the Senate floor Thursday. ‘You’ve always been against this bill, and you’re just trying to derail it.’” (Charles Hurt, “Raising McCain,” New York Post, 5/19/07)
It’s not that I’m a diehard. But as I am thinking this through, I am starting to think that these people do more harm than their obvious counterparts.
I voted for Crist. I didn’t like him, but I voted for him. He wouldn’t have been there to help defeat Romney if people like me hadn’t held their nose.
I probably will vote for McCain, if I have to, simply because of the supermajority. They could stack the court. They could open the borders totally. They could disarm us, outlaw homeschooling, anything. But I sometimes think that perhaps it’s best to let libs screw up, not libs pretending they are Republicans.
Like I said, remember Reagan. We are still suffering from the damage Carter caused in 4 short years, yes. But in 1980 Reagan blew in with almost 500 EV because people became really aware of the devastation caused by a liberal wimp of a president.
“Why have Freepers drank the koolade of the most
liberal republican “Willard Mitt Romney”?”
Are you an illegal alien? or just smoking some very strong stuff?
Liberals do not talk about protecting the unborn under the 14th Amendment. Liberals do not use a veto pen over 800 times on the state budget alone. Liberals do not believe in employer enforcement, border fences, or necessarily keeping English in our schools.
Liberals do not talk of cutting taxes on US corporations when it’s far easier for them to create a boogeyman out of them.
Liberals do not mention tort reform, and nor are they capable of speaking out it competently.
Liberals do not call jihadists “jihadists.”
You mention McCain’s tirade against Senator Cornyn....
I think the worst part of that whole episode wasn’t even the cursing: it was the “I know know more than anyone in this room about immigration” bit. That kind of arrogance is unfitting of a man of power. It’s not only disrespectful, but it’s unhumble and small-minded.
And just as an aside, Senator Cornyn actually wrong an immigration bill most Freepers could have lived with, I think. It’s little wonder McCain dogged him.
Here is one Texan who is going from Fred to Romney and not McCain.
So I will call it being selfish and have no problem with that statement. McCain may put up some moderates for the federal courts...so what. Hillary or Obama will put up flat-out sycophants and the media will push them through. Of course, if enough of us sit out the election, it won’t matter anyhow. There will be a super-majority and we may as well just move away.
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