Rudy talks about his health
Posted: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 4:56 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
LARGO, FL -- Giuliani said his doctor will release a statement today, hoping to put an end to questions about his health that have been dogging him since he was hospitalized a week ago.
Speaking at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post, the former New York City mayor continued to say he was in good health, and added that his doctor would release more information today. But he refused to name his doctor ahead of the statement or say what caused the headaches he experienced while campaigning in Missouri last week.
“I’m feeling great. I feel terrific,” he said. “I feel fully recovered. I took a couple of days to be, you know, 100%, although I campaigned all weekend and I campaigned pretty actively. I feel terrific and the doctor will put out a statement, very shortly, I think, and explain that every one of the tests came back normal.”
Giuliani said he was “checked out up and down, inside and out” but did not respond when reporters asked specifically what caused the “terrible headache.”
“I think I might have ended up being more tired from the tests afterward than I was the headache,” he said. “But the reality is they wanted to make 100% sure that there was nothing wrong with me and I think they achieved that result.”
Curiously, Giuliani refused to identify his doctor before the statement was released. It was unclear whether the statement would be from his primary physician or from someone who treated him at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where Giuliani was brought after his plane turned around on Dec. 19.
“You will know it in a short while,” he said. “I’d like him to put it out his way so that, you know, you see the results and we can get this to the point where it is now that I am very healthy.”
Giuliani was on the first of a three-day swing through Florida, considered the cornerstone of his plan to win the nomination by focusing on later, larger states. He batted down speculation that the “Feb. 5 strategy” will hurt him because he will be pegged as an also-ran candidate before the states he is banking on come into play.
“Look, I don’t know where we’re going to be on January 29,” the day of the Florida primary, he said. “No one knows that until we get there. I think the people of Florida will make their own decision on who they think will be the best Republican candidate. It will be based on who they think is best on dealing with terrorism, who is best for the economy.”
He also continued to downplay the need for momentum, pointing out again that no candidate has won every primary in a contested race. “So by the time we get to Florida on January 29, it’s going to be early enough for Florida to make its own statement, and make a very strong decision that will have an impact,” he said.
Giuliani said there was also a potential for a split party heading into the convention this summer.
He tried to sell his message to veterans, but most seemed more interested in the Electric Slide and bar available in an adjacent room. Giuliani’s press corps packed a small ante room, dwarfing the number of veterans invited to a private roundtable discussion. Giuliani will hold a similar private meeting with veterans in the Fort Lauderdale area Tuesday.
Giuliani told the veterans that he was concerned current generations would not ride to national challenges the way World War II veterans did, but he said he was disabused of those concerns on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I want to do anything I can to make sure veterans are cared for, that they get everything they deserve,” he said, adding that the United States should grow its military.
He likened the flag flung atop Ground Zero on that day to the flag that was raised on top of Iwo Jima in World War II.
