Giuliani tries to show effort in NH
Posted: Monday, December 17, 2007 3:28 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
DURHAM, NH -- If the
Giuliani campaign was interested in playing down talk that the candidate is struggling in the early nominating states and not taking New Hampshire particularly seriously, it had a funny way of showing it.
Giuliani came to New Hampshire Monday, but had only public event (he also had a retail stop in Barrington but didn’t alert the national media). Speaking to employees of Goss International Company, he seemed tentative and spent only half of his normal hour at the town hall (he was running late, campaign officials said, because of weather delays). After taking the last question, Giuliani seemed unclear what to do next, taking a long pause and outstretching his arms before transitioning to ask the attendees for their vote, which he has rarely done on the campaign trail.
“I hope you come back real quick after the holiday because -- believe me -- there is a primary right after that,” he said. “I know there is, so I’ll be spending some of my Christmas holiday here in New Hampshire, which I really look forward to... We’ll be here and we’ll be working really hard to get your vote.”
He then went into the importance of New Hampshire as a general election swing state, suggesting he needed their support in the fall as well.
The campaign has been stressing for days that it is not abandoning New Hampshire, despite dropping poll numbers. But it has done little recently to show effort in the state. Giuliani chose to give his major revitalization speech in Tampa, FL Saturday and surprised many by keeping a very light schedule Monday in the Granite State.
Giuliani officials acknowledged they were adjusting their television buy in New Hampshire, hoping to increase resources for Florida and February 5 states -- the core of Giuliani’s big-state strategy. But the campaign said it could go back up on the air in Boston markets before the January 8 primary, and suggested it would be on the air in another state soon.
Giuliani New Hampshire Chairman Wayne Semprini said after the town hall meeting that Giuliani was not abandoning the Granite State and continued to make the argument he has the most experience. “We feel the best way to pass that word is the New Hampshire way -- that’s person to person. So we’re gonna be doing more and more of that,” he said. But when asked why the campaign only had one event Monday and wouldn’t be back in the state until Friday, he raced out of the building saying he was going to miss his ride.
The town hall itself garnered little news. While Giuliani utilized the “Tested. Ready. Now” slogan, he seemed to not reiterate much of the closing salesmanship he unveiled in Tampa on Saturday. In fact, his opening remarks were only six minutes long, compared with his usual 20-minute opener.
Giuliani was asked how he could support abortion rights, which is not in the Constitution, -- but supported a handgun ban law in violation of the Second Amendment. “I support, let’s call it the right that it is, the right to bear and carry arms, that exists in the Second Amendment,” he said, adding his enforcement efforts in New York focused on people committing crimes with a gun. “So I did use the gun laws very aggressively in New York,” he said. “But I also used all the other laws aggressively. I had to, given the problems that we had.”
Asked about a local issue of giving contraception to middle-school students, Giuliani said “those things should be done with parents’ ability to control that” and then launched into his push for school choice.
He also was asked to elaborate on his experiences on 9/11. He spoke at length about the heroism that day, including construction workers who volunteered unannounced.
