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Where did Rudy go wrong?
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Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani all but abandoned his presidential bid Tuesday night after finishing a distant third in Florida, the state that was supposed to launch his campaign but instead sank his hopes. He is expected to quit the Republican race as early as today and endorse his friend Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
What happened with a campaign that only three months ago seemed to have the nomination locked up? Many advisers and political observers point to strategic miscalculations, including:
• Allowing a tight coterie of New York aides, none with national political experience, to run much of his campaign;
• Accumulating a fat war chest -- he had $16.6 million on hand at the end of September, more than Mitt Romney ($9.5 million) or McCain ($3.2 million) -- but spending it on direct mail instead of building strong organizations on the ground in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa.
Yet perhaps a simpler dynamic was at work: The more Republican voters saw of Giuliani, the less they wanted to vote for him. He once embraced gun control, gay rights and abortion rights, and in explaining that he often occupied a muddled middle ground that pleased no one. And there was his complicated personal life: He has been thrice-married and has two adult children who rarely speak to him.
"It bordered on science fiction to think that someone as liberal on as many issues as Rudy Giuliani could become the Republican nominee," said Nelson Warfield, a GOP consultant and critic.
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