John McCain,  President 2008,  Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Drops Out and Endorses John McCain for President

January 30, 2008 /

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, left, announces he is bowing out of the presidential race and endorsing Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., during a news conference before the Republican presidential debate in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008.

Rudy bows out and endorses his friend Senator John McCain for President.

“I am very proud to endorse my friend and fellow republican, and hero, John McCain, for President of the United States of America,” Giuliani said during a Wednesday evening news conference. “John McCain is the most qualified candidate to be the next commander in chief of the United States.”

Giuliani promised to help McCain campaign across the country as long as the Republican frontrunner needed him to.

“If I’d endorsed anyone else, you would say I was flip-flopping,” Giuliani said, mentioning an oft-repeated criticism of McCain’s chief rival, Mitt Romney.

McCain, standing at Giuliani’s side Wednesday, acknowledged his former rival as “my strong right arm and my partner.”

“This man is a national hero and I’m honored by his friendship,” he said.

Many Giuliani supporters are jumping on board Team McCain. Flap is not so sure he can make this leap from Rudy to McCain – at least not now.

Rudy: “I called some of our strong supporters and thanked them earlier today and also told them what I think you all now know, which is I am gonna endorse John McCain. It’s disappointing to lose a race for president because you believe you’re the best candidate, but I had made it clear before I had to make this decision who I thought the other best candidate was. I think I made it clear during a debate that if I had not been running, I would be supporting John McCain. So I’m not running, and I’m supporting John McCain and he is far away the best person to be the commander in chief of the United States.”

Unlike Rudy, McCain does not have as much personal baggage but his stand on the issues, particularly McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform, taxes and illegal immigration bother Flap mightily.

However, this endorsement is not a good omen for Mitt Romney who will be battling McCain on Super Tuesday next week.

Stay tuned for the GOP debate sans Rudy at 5 PM Pacific time. Flap will comment on Twitter – viewable on the right sidebar or here.

12 Comments

  • Dennis

    January 30, 2008 at 7:55 pm

    Flap,

    Do you think McCain would ask Rudy to be on the ticket as VP, and would Rudy accept?

    I have my doubts whether Rudy would accept, even if asked.

  • Flap

    January 30, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    I don’t think Rudy has the temperament to be a #2. But, he is a team-player.

    Should McCain win the nomination (likely) I suspect a younger candidate like Pawlenty or even Huckabee.

    Attorney General – now that would interest Rudy and he would be great at it.

  • Paul

    January 30, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    Rudy didn’t drop out, he was thrown out on his skinny little behind. The core conservative base does not want him. With McCain, the core conservative base does not want him. Little old ladies and men, along with the hispanics voted for him in Florida because they just want free handouts.

  • Dennis

    January 30, 2008 at 9:27 pm

    I tend to agree that Rudy does not have the temperament to be VP. The only reason that Rudy might be a good choice is because of McCain’s age. If something should happen to him while he was in office, the VP would have to the kind of person who could immediately take over as president.

  • Erik

    January 31, 2008 at 8:03 am

    Yeah, McCain is just a more honest choice than Mitt. Also, I don’t think Rudy would shrink from VP, partly because of McCain’s age, and partly because many VP’s go on to run for President later, and almost always get the nomination without a fight (though not this time…)

    I’m voting for McCain because even though he’s not the perfect conservative, I think that the country would be better off with him than any of the other candidates: the liar Romney; the nut Paul; the evangelical liberal Huckabee; Hill/Bill; or Obama.

    It’s not perfect, but it could be worse!