Giuliani met with McCain as former mayor mulls 2012 bid (Rudy praises McCain for respecting Obama)

The Hill, Washington DC ^ | 2011-06-02 | Michael O'Brien

[rabscuttle385]

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said he met in recent weeks with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as Giuliani mulls a second run for president.

Giuliani said on conservative talker Sean Hannity's radio show that he'd met recently with McCain, the 2008 GOP nominee, and come away with the conclusion that it'd be better to focus on primary states if he were to run again.

Giuliani's campaign is widely seen to have stumbled because of his focus on the Republican primary in Florida, at the expense of earlier, traditional contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. By the time Florida arrived on the calendar, McCain had leapfrogged Giuliani, the early frontrunner in 2008, and virtually sealed the nomination.

The 2008 campaign was essentially "national" and ignored the contours and demands of the earlier primaries, Giuliani said. If he runs again, he's said he'll focus mostly on winning New Hampshire.

The former mayor was in the Granite State on Thursday for a state GOP fundraiser. He took a shot at former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) during that trip, likening the health reforms Romney sought as governor to President Obama's.

Giuliani said he respected McCain's campaign, including for his refusal to run too negative of a campaign, despite conservatives' clamoring for more direct shots at Obama.

[tlb]

>>> I heard the interview. Rudy did NOT praise McCain for respecting Obama. He just said that that’s who McCain is.

You expected honesty on a rabscuttle article? Get real.

[Retired Greyhound]

You’re right. Rudy has too many liabilities, and I have too many disagreements with him ideologically.

But as someone who lived in New York both before and after Rudy, I can tell you that he was a very competent and effective mayor.