Breaking News: Rudy Giuliani hints at dropping out

LA Times ^ | 28 January 2008 | Andrew Malcolm

[.cnI redruM]

Rudy Giuliani appears to be pondering an end to his long pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination.

In a meeting in the back of his chartered plane en route to St. Petersburg, Fla., a short while ago, the onetime, longtime GOP front-runner told a small group of reporters, including The Times' Louise Roug: "The winner of Florida will win the nomination."

[pogo101]

Not sure I want him out YET. First, let’s see him take down MacAbee.

[backtothestreets]

Pinch me! I must be dreaming. If true, and I strongly suspect it is, I hope McCain and his pro-amnesty for illegal aliens / global warming-carbon credits schemes strikeout next.

[AuntB]

“My bet is he’ll throw his support to McCain. It’s their masters desire.”

I was just pondering where the Rudy supporters will go. From my observation they tend to be open border folks. I hope Rudy leaving doesn’t help McCain.

What a mess!

[cripplecreek]

Who cares? Just send him home.

[The Pack Knight]

An LA Times hit job, or the end of the road for Rudy?

A little from column A, a little from column B.

While the headline is misleading and probably designed to hurt Giuliani, the conclusion is true. The winner of Florida will probably win the nomination, and Rudy will probably drop out if he doesn't win or at least place well in Florida.

[Constitution Day]

Yeah, really

[EternalVigilance]

The RINO establishment doesn’t need Rudy anymore. They’ve got Giuliani with a smiley face and good hair: Mitt Romney.

[italianquaker]

nah fred is dead,hunter out, tancredo gone,rudy and huck next and who cares about paul. This is now a 2 man race

[bluebeak]

Another Romney tactic (like the one done on Fred Thompson)?

[.cnI redruM]

Pretty much. The Clinton Ego is too narcissistic to understand that the entire world wants them to leave!

[bill1952]

Quit without even counting all of the states he is sure to win?
Seems like Rudy will win NY and NJ and California if arnuld manages to endorse someone other than Hillary or Obama.

Sure, quitting makes sense... /s

And RabidBartender? Hillary would beat him like a drum there.
The only record of note with Rudy v Hillary does not paint a pretty picture of him.

[teddyballgame]

Not sure who this helps more McCain or Romney. Probably McCain.

[mwl1]

This is another distortion of Rudy’s remarks coming from the McCain people.

[counterpunch]

If Rudy drops out, he’ll endorse McCain.
Right now he’s taking votes from McCain.
It’s better if he stays in.

[colorado tanker]

Rudy rolled the dice, hoping for a big win in Florida without spending much time anywhere else. Needless to say, this strategy didn’t exactly work.

Quite an understatement, Eric!

Rudy's strategy depended on keeping the front-runner mystique because Florida voters are influenced by national trends, just like everyone else. National opinion always begins to coalesce around winners in New Hampshire and, for the Republicans, South Carolina. It made no sense to skip Iowa, N.H., Nevada and S.C. and think the lead would hold. I understand he's out of money now, too.

[11bravo wolfhoundf]

Go Rudy and take McTraitor with you

[bluebeak]

Just like Thompson in right before Iowa. Who do think floated this? Which candidate has basically bought off the media (and interest groups, etc.).?

[Liberty Valance]

I agree. They did the same thing to Thompson by way of politico.com. This political season is shaping up to be one of the nastiest I’ve ever witnessed.

[trumandogz]

Unfortunately, if Rudy Drops out, it will only help McCain.

[Spiff]

Unfortunately, his votes would probably go to McCain. I urge him to stay in the race and continue splitting the moderate/liberal/democrat vote. Huckabee needs to drop out and stop splitting the social conservative/fiscal conservative/republican vote.