January 29th, 2008 10:00 PM
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? Rudy Giuliani's master plan has backfired.
The former New York City mayor banked his entire presidential campaign on winning the Florida Republican primary. He basically ignored the Iowa caucuses, and New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina primaries.
Now he's paid the price. Two sources in the Giuliani camp told CBS station WCBS-TV's Andrew Kirtzman on Tuesday night that Giuliani plans to pull out of race before Super Tuesday and endorse John McCain for president.
Sources told Kirtzman that the Giuliani is leaving the timing of the endorsement up to McCain so that the former mayor's endorsement can make the most impact.
Giuliani was not expected to drop out Tuesday night.
Giuliani kept up appearances and said all the right things in the hours leading up to Tuesday's Florida primary, but when it came time for the voters to make their choice, all the money and time he spent in the Sunshine State became an afterthought.
Giuliani finished in third place, just ahead of Mike Huckabee and well behind John McCain and Mitt Romney, who were locked in a fierce battle.
Published reports suggested Giuliani would drop out of the race as early as Wednesday and throw his support behind McCain. Giuliani was to speak at his Florida campaign headquarters later Tuesday night.
Giuliani was criticized by nearly every major news organization for failing to let the country get to know him and hear his message. His campaign started taking hits back in early November when his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik , was indicted on federal corruption charges. Then in December, persistent questions surfaced over security expenses during his mayoralty for his then-mistress, now-wife Judith Nathan, further underlining his unusual personal situation.
"I just didn't feel like he was suited for me, for just what he believes in," voter Sandy Nassar said Tuesday. "I looked at their personal lives and stuff, that didn't appeal to me. His personal life was opposite to me."
Giuliani's round-the-clock defense of his leadership as mayor on 9/11 started to wear thin as the campaign entered 2008, forcing him to change his focus from defeating terrorism to improving the economy.
"Rudy did a good job whenever we had 9/11 up in New York, but I don't know how he would do for the whole United States," said Orlando resident Bobbie Clifton, who voted for John McCain.
Late last week the New York Times dealt Giuliani a serious blow by issuing a scathing attack on his character during the eight years he served the people of New York City.
Finally, his bizarre campaign strategy, where Florida was treated like the most important state in before Super Tuesday, left a bad taste in voters' mouths.
"It was a choice for me between Romney and Rudy," voter Bob Nicoli said. "Rudy is a good candidate, but he made a real strategy error in getting his campaign in front of the mass of the American people too late. He lost a lot of traction by doing that."
When asked Tuesday how he felt, Giuliani gave WCBS-TV cameras a thumb's up.
Was it confidence or false bravado? Despite polls saying Giuliani's days on the campaign trail could be over, "America's Mayor" seemed convinced he'd confound the pundits.
"Other candidates have gotten momentum as they've won different primaries and that has created a certain amount of momentum in the national polls," Giuliani said earlier Tuesday. "I believe that we are going to win here today and that's going to change things."
Florida allows voters to cast ballots early and Giuliani had hoped to win them over before the other candidates got here.
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