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Posted: November 13, 2007 8:00 PM
Giuliani's Nomination Strategy Puts Focus Beyond Iowa, N.H.
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Even with all the hype surrounding Iowa and New Hampshire, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign is focusing instead on Florida’s Jan. 29 primary and Super Tuesday on Feb. 5, when 20 states including delegate-rich California and New York will cast their votes.

“There are multiple paths to victory and everyone seems to be focused on the traditional path of winning the early states and then have the momentum throughout. What we see is the possibility of two paths,” Giuliani campaign manager Michael DuHaime said Monday.

Giuliani, who holds the lead in most national polls, trails his rival former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney has campaigned heavily there, looking for momentum to boost him toward wins in later voting states.

On Monday, Giuliani’s DuHaime said the former mayor is strong enough beyond Iowa and New Hampshire to be “momentum proof.” Romney’s spokesman, Kevin Madden, compared the claim to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny saying: “None of them exist,” according to Newsday.

The Giuliani campaign is also counting on Michigan’s Jan. 15 primary for a win, though the legality of the date is being worked out in court. If the earlier date is denied, Michigan Republicans may appoint its delegates during a state convention in late January, according to The Detroit News. Giuliani would have more of a chance winning in a primary vote than in an environment where Romney, a native of Michigan, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, Michigan’s 2000 primary winner, hold a competitive edge.

A breakdown of the numbers by the Associated Press explains how Giuliani could win enough delegates, even if he suffers loses in the early voting states.
Delegate counts and strategy memos aside, Giuliani’s former police commissioner Bernard Kerik was indicted on Friday and pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of federal corruption charges for actions that occurred during his time serving in Giuliani’s New York City government.

In response, Giuliani said, “I think he should have been checked out more carefully. I have said that, I have apologized for it. But the reality is we brought down crime by record proportions, we brought down violence and the prisons record proportions.”

It remains to be seen how much impact Kerik’s indictment and Giuliani’s connection to him will have on his campaign.
“Republicans are voting for him because they think he can beat Hillary,” said NewsHour analyst David Brooks. “And the core of the campaign that he’s running is electability. And unless this begins to hurt there, I suspect it will have a limited political fallout, at least in the near term.”

But the Kerik indictment raises issues about Giuliani appointing corrupt officials to his administration. “If Giuliani somehow does get himself elected, he would be better off picking the names of cabinet members out of a hat.” wrote the NY Daily News

On Wednesday, Giuliani’s campaign will kick off his national Hispanic coalition, called “Viva Rudy,” with two simultaneous events in Florida led by state Rep. Rene Garcia in Miami and U.S. Rep. Luis Fortuno in Orlando.

The former mayor will be in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Wednesday morning, in Fargo, N.D. in the afternoon, back to Iowa for a visit with residents of Rock Rapids, and then to Sioux Falls, S.D., to speak at the 26th Annual South Dakota Law Enforcement Appreciation & Children’s Charities Dinner. On Thursday, he is scheduled to be in Florida.