Oh-eight (R): Rudy's Mo' problem?
Posted: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 9:09 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Republicans
USA Today on the new USA Today/Gallup poll: “Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani continues to lead, supported by 27% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents… Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee was second among Republicans, at 16%. Tied at 14% were Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.”
GIULIANI: “The increased attention Rudy Giuliani has been giving to New Hampshire doesn't seem to be paying off.” More: “Pinning his hopes on big states that come later in the primary season, the former New York mayor is struggling to regain momentum after a series of setbacks. The next month could provide a severe test for his unorthodox approach to winning the GOP nomination.”
The New York Sun takes a look at the campaign's decision to cut its New Hampshire ad buy in half. "Giuliani's decision to largely abandon the early voting state of New Hampshire and concentrate his efforts on the Florida primary three weeks later reflects an uncomfortable truth for the former New York mayor: The more he campaigned in the Granite State and the more he spent on advertising there, the more his poll numbers dropped."
McClatchy catches on to Giuliani's problems and pegs it on the issue shift in the electorate.
The recent reduction in violence in Iraq may be hurting Giuliani. Toughness against terrorism is the cornerstone of his campaign. But Americans believe that President Bush's Iraq troop-increase plan is working, and that's lowering their concerns about terrorism, [pollster Brad] Coker said. ‘Iraq and terrorism are down in importance,’ Coker said. ‘That hurts Giuliani.’”
HUCKABEE: The candidate defended himself against the “soft on crime” label a new Romney ad puts on him. "The difference between us is that I did something he never had to do. I carried out the death penalty 16 times, more than any other governor in my state's history," Huckabee told reporters in Los Angeles before attending a Beverly Hills fundraiser. "That's hardly soft on crime when you make that tough decision and actually carry it out.”
NBC's Lauren Appelbaum and Ben Weltman watched Huckabee on "Larry King" so you didn't have to. Regarding his criticism of Bush on foreign policy, Huckabee responded that he will not apologize to Bush, even though Romney said he should. "I love the President personally," he said. "I think he's done far more things right than he's done wrong. I've campaigned for him every time he ran. I agree with him more than I disagree with him. But when I disagree with him, I need to be honest about it."
King and Huckabee also discussed Cuba and Fidel Castro. "Even if he gives it up, if his brother gets it, we're not going to see any significant changes," he said at the beginning of the show. "So that's the bad news for the people of Cuba." Although he once called for lifting the embargo (to help his state's rice crop), he repeated his recent statement that America needs to keep the embargo.
MCCAIN: Nashua Telegraph reports that McCain is launching a direct mail attack saying that Romney is a flip flopper that “voters can’t trust.” Last week, McCain’s camp said he wouldn’t go negative.
Yesterday's endorsements and focus on New Hampshire got McCain the extra press coverage the campaign was hoping for.
In the New York Times’ coverage of McCain's Lieberman nod, the paper notes McCain is returning to Iowa after Christmas.
On Hardball yesterday, Lieberman, who endorsed McCain on Monday, told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that McCain would make a better president than George W. Bush.
Matthews: “Right now, without looking in the rear view mirror which is of no value to you or to me, and I've said on this show I voted for Bush the first time. I mean not everybody can see the future, ok, I mean we really can't. But looking into the future, sir, do you think John McCain will be an improvement on Bush?”
Lieberman: “With all respect to the incumbent, I do. And I think for two reasons. One is -- when I say John can unite the country and break through the partisanship to go back to that tradition of partisan politics ending at the water's edge which made us strong for a long time. John has strong opinions about foreign policy but he is always reaching out to try to find common ground to bring people together and I think it will be very important for him to do that. Secondly, on some of the things that the current president has just said no to, like doing anything about global warming, John has been a leader.”
NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli notes McCain got one of those "make ya squirm" questions in New Hampshire… At a town hall meeting last night, John McCain passed on a loaded question from a voter about claims that Rudy Giuliani improperly arranged travel for his then-mistress, Judith Nathan.
PAUL: The New York Times examines how the Paul campaign is using its new cash infusion: It is hiring more staffers and planning more ads in the February 5 states.
ROMNEY: The Los Angeles Times takes a look at how California Mormons are keeping a low profile in their excitement over Romney.
In its front-page profile of Romney, the New York Times traces his presidential bid to his father’s. Romney “had already made millions as the founder of a giant buyout firm. But his father wanted Mitt to follow him into politics, convinced he could unseat Senator Edward M. Kennedy in Massachusetts. ‘It was Mitt’s dad that kicked us over that one,’ Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife, recalled of the losing 1994 Senate race. ‘If people understood that equation of George Romney and his impact on my life and on Mitt’s life, they wouldn’t be so curious about why Mitt is running for president. He is why Mitt is running.’”
“Romney's eyes filled with tears Monday as the Republican presidential contender recalled watching the casket of a soldier killed in Iraq return to the United States and imagined if it were one of his five sons.” More: “During a news conference afterward, Romney defended the tears, which came a day after he similarly choked up on NBC's ‘Meet the Press.’ ‘I'm a normal person, I have emotions,’ Romney told reporters. ‘I have emotion just like anyone else. I'm not ashamed of that at all.’”
THOMPSON: So McCain and Edwards are getting plenty of comeback kid like stories but Thompson hasn't gotten yet. Will he by the end of this Iowa blitz?
Rep. Steve King, who the Des Moines Register writes, “pretty much owns western Iowa” endorsed Thompson yesterday. But it wasn’t clear until King officially announced if it was going to be Romney or Thompson.
