Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Rudy Can Fail

It doesn’t surprise me that Rudy Giuliani did not win the Florida primary. Nor am I shocked that he is consequently dropping out of the race. What is surprising to me is that he actually thought his campaign tactics would be effective. The man had nearly twice as much money as Mitt Romney last Fall and even Romney had three times the funds of the next closest candidate (McCain.) So Giuliani chose to spend his millions on…direct mail. And ok, campaigning in Florida.

I suppose there was a possibility that it could have worked. With the confusion surrounding the initial primaries and caucuses, there was—for a time—no clear frontrunner on the Republican side. Maybe Rudy and his marching band of Floridians could have capitalized on the indecision and won big.

Yet even with the emphasis squarely on the Disney World State, the word is that Rudy just wasn’t Republican enough for the voters. He finished third in Florida, which suggests that his money would have been better spent if he had simply thrown it off the top of Space Mountain in handfuls while screaming “9/11!”

Also, Edwards is bowing out of the race today without endorsing another candidate. Another attempt to hold out for VP, perhaps?

3 comments:

Dan said...

Rudy's ill-fated strategy is eerily reminiscent of what I like to call my Pine Wood Derby Debacle of '88. After finishing in third place the year before, my brother and I designed what we believed to be the most aerodynamically sound car of all time. The night before the race, my sister knocked it off the top of our refridgerator, where its jet-black paint was in the process of drying. I flipped out, touched up the paint job and proceeded to get blown out by the competition the following day.

Sarah said...

Yeah. It is kind of like that. Do you need a hug?

Joe Cog said...

Moderates recapture the GOP? Do they also run the convention? If you are, say, an Evangelist, you feel that the party has betrayed you and now the betrayers are out of power. And they are replaced by people who don't promise to push your agenda. Do you stay home in November?
America moves closer to the middle. Does government become any more effective?
Do Bush and Cheney leave graciously, meaning the Veep gives up his decades-old Middle East/World plans, or do they (never having had much respect for the Constitution) seek to stay in power.
Finally, sorry about the car, Dan