Politics

Starting Gate: Rudy's Last Chance

By Vaughn Ververs

January 24, 2008 / 8:50 AM EST / CBS News

3697154Has any candidate ever needed a breakthrough moment more than Rudy Giuliani? He gets a chance in tonight's GOP debate in Florida but for a candidate who entered the race as one of the big heavyweights in the field, it's a last-gasp opportunity.

Consider the new Miami Herald poll out today, showing Giuliani slipping into near-obscurity in a state he has publicly pronounced a must-win. The poll shows John McCain with a razor-thin lead over Mitt Romney, 25 percent to 23 percent with Giuliani tied for a distance third with Mike Huckabee at 15 percent each. "Giuliani for all intents and purposes has virtually no chance to win in Florida," said Democratic pollster Rob Schroth, who conducted the Herald poll with GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway.

A Public Policy Polling survey doesn't hold much better news for the former New York City Mayor, showing him in third with 19 percent, behind Romney (28 percent) and McCain (25 percent).

Giuliani's insistence on basically living in the state over the past few weeks could yet yield some benefits, especially among those who've already cast ballots (Florida counties have reported a healthy early vote). But it's not helping his cause that the topic of the campaign has shifted in recent weeks and months, away from Giuliani's strong suit on national security and towards economic concerns – and more recently discussion of electability. Add to that the constant and loud harassment by Ron Paul supporters, who have taken to heckling Giuliani at public events, and it's not a pretty picture for the man known as America's Mayor.

Giuliani gets one more chance tonight to make a lasting impression before Tuesday's primary and put some real results behind his confident rhetoric. "We're going to win big here," he said yesterday. "Florida is going to catapult us to the nomination because Florida is going to vote in a way that I think people don't even realize." Giuliani argued that his message just needs some time to settle in among the state's Republicans. "As these ideas seep through, I think we're going to do well here," he claimed. But if those ideas haven't trickled through the party after several weeks of constant campaigning, he could be out of time.

Radio Wars: The Clinton campaign is running a radio ad in South Carolina using Obama's comments about Ronald Reagan. The Obama camp hit back with a radio spot of its own yesterday. Text: "It's what's wrong with politics today. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected. Now she's making false attacks on Barack Obama. The Washington Post says Clinton isn't telling the truth. Obama 'did not say that he liked the ideas of Republicans.' In fact, Obama's led the fight to raise the minimum wage, close corporate tax loopholes and cut taxes for the middle class. But it was Hillary Clinton, in an interview with Tom Brokaw, who quote 'paid tribute' to Ronald Reagan's economic and foreign policy. She championed NAFTA – even though it has cost South Carolina thousands of jobs. And worst of all, it was Hillary Clinton who voted for George Bush's war in Iraq. Hillary Clinton. She'll say anything, and change nothing. It's time to turn the page."

If Your Liked The Primary, You're Going To Love The General: In a breakfast meeting with reporters yesterday, Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan provided a preview of how the GOP might run against either Obama or Clinton. Citing internal poll numbers to back him up, Duncan's lines of attack sounded, well, very familiar. Of Clinton, Duncan said: "With Sen. Clinton, it comes down to trust. … She's a lifelong liberal politician with some political baggage." Duncan said polls showed that a majority of Americans believe Clinton "will say or do anything to get elected." When it comes to Obama, Duncan had this to say: "His rhetoric is very good. He's a great speaker. But at the end of the speech, people go, 'Where's the beef?'" They're talking points that could have been written by the warring Democratic candidates themselves.

Around The Track

Hillary Clinton defended Bill Clinton's role in the campaign in an interview with the AP. "We're in a very heated campaign, and people are coming out and saying all kinds of things," she said. "I'm out there every day making a positive case for my candidacy. I have a lot of wonderful people, including my husband, who are out there making the case for me."

The Obama campaign began running a series of ads in select Super Tuesday states yesterday, focusing on the economy, education and using excerpts from Obama's Iowa victory speech. The ads are running in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, New Mexico and Utah.

Make sure you check out this wrap-up on Fred Thompson's now-defunct campaign from CBS News' John Bentley, who covered the campaign through its few ups and frequent downs.

John Edwards took a swipe at Clinton for leaving South Carolina for several days this week to campaign in some of the February 5th contests. "After the debate, she flew out and she's been gone and she won't be back until I don't know - later in the week or until primary day," Edwards said. "What are the chances she's coming back when she's president of the United States?" Clinton returns to the state today.