Rudy relishes underdog role
Posted: Saturday, January 26, 2008 12:50 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
SARASOTA, Fla. -- Giuliani said voters should ignore the polls and said he enjoyed being the underdog in the race for Florida’s Republican delegates.
“I like feeling like I’m an underdog,” he said. “I think underdogs get a lot of sympathy, a lot of support, they get a lot of interest. But who knows? Who knows if somebody’s an underdog or not an underdog. The voters will decide that and they’re deciding that over the last two weeks and they will decide it for sure on Tuesday.”
He laughed when asked if he was looking for sympathy votes. “No, I think you get a lot of attention as the underdog and there’s a certain feeling of coming from behind that appeals to the American people,” he said.
The latest polls have shown Giuliani in third or fourth place in Florida, but he advised voters to look past the polling. “I say, ‘don’t look at the polls, look into your heart and decide who it is you believe will make the best president and vote for that person,’” Giuliani said.
He continued the “best of both worlds” theme that he began Friday evening, saying he is the only candidate with both national security and economic experience, but did not directly name McCain or Romney, as he had at the Sarasota County Republican Party.
“I see what they’re saying about each other and I believe I combine the two things that they’re talking about,” he said. “One is pointing to the other and saying, ‘you don’t know enough about the economy,’ the other is pointing at the first one and saying, ‘you don’t know enough about foreign policy.’ And the reality is I’ve had experience in both areas. Had results in both areas. I’ve had results in the area of the economy, very strong results. And I’ve had results in the area of security and safety, national security. So I believe I’m the candidate that combines the two things that they’re talking about.”
Giuliani was joined by actor Jon Voight, who bounced up front in the middle of Giuliani’s talk at Columbia Restaurant. Giuliani introduced him after the music had already started to play following Giuliani’s address, and Voight took the microphone and spoke for several minutes, drawing analogies between his movie career and Giuliani’s candidacy.
Later, Voight poked his head behind Giuliani during a press conference and stayed to shake hands and pose for pictures long after Giuliani had left the restaurant. Giuliani also entered and exited to new music. He entered the restaurant to “Taking Care of Business” and finished to “What I Like About You.” Giuliani had been entering to the theme from the movie “Rudy” for weeks, but changed it up Thursday, using Van Halen’s “Best of Both Worlds.”
