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President 2012: Is There Room in the Race for Rudy Giuliani?
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his wife Judith Nathan pay their respects at the north reflection pool near the bronze-etched names of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the National September 11 Memorial during a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the attacks at World Trade Center, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 in New York
Yes, especially with the implosion of Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry.Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani dispatched a key emissary to New Hampshire on Wednesday to gauge their interest in his possible presidential bid.
One of the mayor’s closest political advisers, Jake Menges, hosted private meetings with a host of key Republicans in the state, including Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, likely gubernatorial candidate Kevin Smith, Congressman Charlie Bass and GOP activist Stephen Talarico, owner of Manchester Harley-Davidson.
“Jake said to me, ‘Just keep your powder dry for another few weeks,'” Talarico told The Associated Press.
Giuliani has visited the first-in-the-nation primary state four times already this year and advisers have maintained regular contact with potential staffers in the event he decides to seek the presidency. During his last trip in July, Giuliani said he wasn’t convinced any of the candidates were strong enough to defeat President Barack Obama. Until he is, he said he wouldn’t rule out a run of his own.
Rudy has the executive experience, been battle tested and is no more moderate than Mitt Romney or Rick Perry. Plus, unlike Rick Perry he can actually hold his own during a debate.
On social issues, Giuliani is NOT a conservative, but a moderate. But, so is Romney. Rudy does not have the albatross of RomneyCare hanging around his heck.
There is a path to the nomination, if the GOP will nominate a moderate on the social issues.
But, it looks like they will anyway with Romney, if Rudy does not run.
Compared to the rest of the field, Giuliani is definitely a top tier contender and one who can beat President Obama.
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President 2012: Tom Kean Confirms New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Mulling Over Presidential Run
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie answers a question as he and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels speak to a gathering at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. , Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011
I hope Christie decides to run.
Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean (R), who has known Chris Christie since he was a teenager, tells National Reviewthat the governor is “very seriously” considering a presidential bid.Said Kean: “It’s real. He’s giving it a lot of thought. I think the odds are a lot better now than they were a couple weeks ago.”
He added: “More and more people are talking to him. He’s getting appeals from major figures around the country. He is the best speaker I may have ever heard in politics.”
The LEFT has already researched who are the money people possibly behind a Christie campaign.
These money folks are pretty much the financiers of Rudy Giuliani’s campaign in 2008, especially Paul Singer.
New York hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer is also named by Politico as one of the leaders of the latest Draft Christie movement. Singer was a major fundraiser for both George W. Bush’s and Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaigns. He also bankrolled an unsuccessful 2007 effort in California to try to pass a ballot measure ending the winner-takes-all system for California’s electoral votes, which would provide a massive boost to Republican presidential candidates. Like Langone, he has a moderate streak as well: he helped fund efforts to pass New York’s landmark law allowing same sex marriage this year.
If the funding is in place and Rudy Giuliani helps Christie with NE GOP primary delegates and Florida, the campaign, even though late in arriving, will be winnable.
Moreover, Christie has at least two staff members who worked for Giuliani’s 2008 campaign: Maria Comella (Rudy’s traveling communications director) and Michael DuHaime (Giuliani’s campaign manager).
Governor Christie will be out in California tomorrow evening speaking at the Reagan Presidential Library.So, stay tuned…..
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President 2102 GOP Poll Watch: Rick Perry Leads But Mitt Romney Gaining in Favorability
According to the latest Gallup Poll.Mitt Romney is the only announced candidate whose Positive Intensity Score has improved significantly in recent weeks. His current 16 is up from 11 in late August and is his highest rating since mid-July, thus narrowing the gap with Perry. Rudy Giuliani, who has yet to decide if he will run, still edges out Romney with an 18.
Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann have seen significant declines in their Positive Intensity Scores since late August. Palin, who has also not decided whether to run, is down six points, from 16 to 10, and Bachmann is down three points, from 13 to 10. Both women are now at new lows for the year, with Bachmann’s score cut in half since early August.
Of course, this poll was taken before last night, but shows some movement since the Reagan Presidential Library debate the week prior where the Social Security – Ponzi Scheme Flap reared its ugly head. Interesting that Rudy Giuliani continues to poll better than Mitt Romney.
With just under five months remaining before Republican primary voters start casting ballots for the 2012 Republican nomination, Perry continues to generate more positive intensity from Republicans who know him than any other announced or potential candidate Gallup tracks. This is particularly notable because Perry has managed to maintain a strong Positive Intensity Score as his recognition among Republicans has expanded from 55% in July to 75% today. Romney, however, remains better known, and has recently seen his sagging Positive Intensity Score rebound, although he still lags significantly behind Perry on this measure.
The news is not as good for Bachmann, who has lost much of the passionate support she generated as recently as early August. Positive intensity for Palin among national Republicans has also slipped to a new low for the year.
Republicans’ views of Paul, Gingrich, Santorum, and Huntsman all seem to be in a holding pattern at levels seemingly keeping these men out of serious contention for the nomination. Huntsman does particularly poorly in Republicans’ eyes, and is the only candidate tracked whose Positive Intensity Score is a net negative, meaning that more Republicans who know him have a strongly unfavorable opinion than have a strongly favorable opinion.
Cain continues to be an anomaly, scoring high in positive intensity among those who know him, yet unable to push his recognition above the 50% level, and scoring low in trial-heat ballot measures.
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Video: Rudy Strikes Back – Calls Joe Biden Obama’s Puppet
View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.
Rudy strikes back for Slow Joe’s 9/11 comment.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani insists he doesn’t want to be a vice-presidential pick on a GOP ticket in 2012, suggesting that Vice President Joe Biden looked like a puppet during President Obama’s jobs speech.
In an interview with NBC New York Friday, the one-time Republican presidential candidate said the no. 2 job is not for him.
“I think Biden must have a sore neck by now,” Giuliani said. “He was shaking his head so much it looked like he was on a string. It would be hard to sit there and shake your head all the time.”
America’s Mayor has never been one to mince his words.
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President 2012 Poll Watch: Rick Perry and Herman Cain Gain in GOP Field – Perry the CLEAR Front-Runner
According to the latest Gallup Poll.Herman Cain and Rick Perry continue to generate strongly favorable impressions among Republicans familiar with them. Meanwhile, those familiar with Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, and Ron Paul express less intensely positive opinions of those candidates now than at any point this year. The result is a clear separation of 12 percentage points between the top and middle tiers of Republican presidential candidates in Gallup’s Positive Intensity Score from Aug. 15-28 Gallup Daily tracking. The average Positive Intensity Scores show much smaller gaps between the current top- and middle-tier candidates.
Two potential candidates included in the measurement, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, fall between the middle and top tiers, with current scores of 16 and 17, respectively.
Of all the candidates Gallup tracks, Jon Huntsman has the lowest score, 1. That is also his personal low, and he is one of four candidates, along with Romney, Bachmann, and Paul, to have a personal low in the current data. Newt Gingrich, still mired in the lower tier of candidates with Huntsman and Paul, has shown some improvement in his score in recent weeks, now 7 after descending to 1 at the end of July.
So, what does this all mean?
Texas Governor Rick Perry is solidfying his front-runner status in this race. Governor Perry is the CLEAR front-runner at this point.
Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann are starting to fade and the rest of the field are non-starters.
Game over for Perry – unless there is some monumental gaffe.
The Chart:
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President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Perry 27% Vs. Romney 14% Vs. Palin 10% Vs. Bachmann and Giuliani 9%
According to the latest CNN Poll.
The survey, released Monday, indicates that 27 percent of Republicans nationwide support Perry for their party’s nomination, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who’s making his second bid for the White House, at 14 percent. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin follows at ten percent, with Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at nine percent, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who’s making his third bid for the presidency, at six percent. Every one else listed on the questionnaire registered in the low single digits.
Another national poll, like Gallup, last week that shows Texas Governor Rick Perry as the front-runner.
The momentum has been clear and it is all Perry.
Wonder what Sarah Palin is thinking now?
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President 2012: Rick Perry Will Have to Explain Why Rudy Giuliani Cannot Be His Attorney General
In 2008 Texas Governor Rick Perry endorses Rudy GiulianiI am pro-life but like and supported Rudy Giuliani in 2008. You don’t always agree with a POL on all issues.
Now, Jen Rubin points out a contradiction for the now front-running GOP Presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry.
As other Republican contenders did before him, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed the Susan B. Anthony List’s antiabortion pledge. That pledge includes this: “Select pro-life appointees for relevant Cabinet and Executive Branch positions, in particular the head of National Institutes of Health, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Health & Human Services.” This would exclude people such as Rudy Giuliani as attorney general. That might be fine for some Republicans, but Perry endorsed Giuliani for president in 2008. Good enough for the Oval Office but not the Justice Department? I asked the Perry campaign to explain but no answer was forthcoming.
What say you Governor?
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President 2012 GOP Poll Watch: Perry 29% Vs. Romney 17% Paul 13% Bachmann 10% – Perry Now the Front-Runner
According to the latest Gallup Poll.Shortly after announcing his official candidacy, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has emerged as rank-and-file Republicans’ current favorite for their party’s 2012 presidential nomination. Twenty-nine percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents nationwide say they are most likely to support Perry, with Mitt Romney next, at 17%.
These results are based on an Aug. 17-21 Gallup poll, the first conducted after several important events in the Republican nomination campaign, including the second candidate debate, the Iowa Straw Poll, and Perry’s official entry into the race after months of speculation.
Romney and Perry essentially tied for the lead in late July, based on re-computed preferences that include the current field of announced candidates. Gallup’s official July report, based on the announced field at the time and thus excluding Perry, showed Romney with a 27% to 18% lead over Michele Bachmann. Romney enjoyed an even wider, 17-point lead in June over Herman Cain among the field of announced candidates (Gallup did not include Perry among the nominee choices before July).
Perry’s official announcement may have overshadowed the Aug. 13 Iowa Straw Poll, which Bachmann won narrowly over Ron Paul. Neither candidate appears to have gotten a big boost from the straw poll results; Paul’s support was up slightly from July and Bachmann’s down slightly.
What about the GOP demographics?
Perry is a strong contender among key Republican subgroups. Older Republicans and those living in the South show especially strong support for him, at or near 40%. Conservative Republicans strongly favor Perry over Romney, but liberal and moderate Republicans support the two about equally. Perry’s support is also above average among religious Republicans.
The chart:
What is most interesting to me is the weakness of Perry and Romney in the East. Is there room in the field for an Eastern based candidate like former New York Governor George Pataki or former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani? And, who would that hurt the most?
While the eight announced candidates continue to campaign in key early primary and caucus states, Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani are two prominent Republican politicians who have indicated they are still contemplating getting into the race. Palin and Giuliani each receive about 10% of the vote when included in the nomination preference question, with Perry still holding a significant lead over Romney, 25% to 14%, on this measure.
With them in the race, Perry jumps to an 11 point lead over Romney. Also, remember that Rudy was endorsed by Perry in 2008 and that they are friends.
The chart:
So, what does this all mean?
Texas Governor Rick Perry has vaulted into being the front-runner for the GOP Presidential nomination.
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President 2012: President George Pataki?
New York Governor George Pataki addresses the final night of the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York, September 2, 2004
GOP Operative/pundit Mike Murphy discusses the possible path to the Presidency for former New York Governor George Pataki.While most of the media have gone ridiculously aflutter over Sarah Palin’s latest diesel-powered tourist outing slash fan dance, a far more interesting caper is quietly unfolding in New Hampshire. Former New York governor George Pataki is airing a new ad on a Granite State TV station, WMUR. The ad comes from a Pataki-sponsored group called No American Debt and is perfectly attuned to New Hampshire’s flinty primary electorate. So while others are playing cat and mouse with reporters, inspecting farms in Iowa with more hogs than people and pleading with legions of self-appointed Tea Party generalissimos, Pataki is running a very effective spot in New Hampshire.
I saw it and had to smile. My bet? Pataki is going to try to steal the New Hampshire primary: First, ignore all the silly inside games and get on television pronto with a good message. Move up quietly in the polls — with Mitt Romney sitting at a third of the vote, Palin unelectable and Tim Pawlenty drifting near the margin of error, Pataki could televise his way into second or third place in Granite State polls by midsummer. Then let the national media discover the Pataki surge and get bonkers about it. With that national attention, reboot the once massive Pataki money machine in New York State and start attracting more national money and support. Light the right match, and if it combusts correctly, stand back and watch the fire grow.
If Pataki generates real heat in New Hampshire, it will create an enormous headache for Romney. The last thing Romney needs is another can-do Northeastern governor in the race. It’s even worse for the ideologically murky Jon Huntsman, who is banking on a very similar formula of independents and mainline Republicans to sore his own New Hampshire upset. In a final Shakespearean twist, Pataki’s old home-state rival Rudy Giuliani will be watching all this carefully and thinking dark thoughts about the idea of President Pataki. He too is hinting at a possible run.
I think Rudy Giuliani is waiting for Sarah Palin and will run if she gets in. Maybe Pataki has done the same political calculus.
But, there is room for only one of them and Pataki is already running ads and has no debt like Rudy.
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President 2012: Former New York Governor George Pataki to Run for President?
Former New York Gov. George Pataki, center right, is greeted as he leaves St. Patrick’s Cathedral after the funeral of former Gov. Hugh Carey Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 in New York. The Brooklyn-born Carey served two terms as New York governor from 1975 to 1982 after seven terms as a congressman representing his home borough
I guess the more the merrier.A spokesman has confirmed that former Governor George Pataki is strongly considering entering the crowded race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Sources say Pataki, who left office in 2007, could make an announcement as early as next week.
If he were to run, Pataki would face several major obstacles including launching an operation with little campaign cash and facing several opponents who have been meeting voters in Iowa and New Hampshire for months.
Pataki has been a vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s health care plan.
There is a path to the GOP Presidential nomination for Rudy Giuliani but I do not know if Pataki will do particularly well. But, if and when Sarah Palin enters the race, in a multi-candidate field for GOP delegates, Pataki who is very experienced, may be a player.
But, can he raise sufficient campaign cash to run in New Hampshire and Florida?