Rudy Guiliani and his stinking strategy

In my mind much before the start of the primary season I saw Mayor Rudy Guiliani as one of the top contenders to bag the coveted Republican nomination along with Senator John McCain. With all due respect to Governor Mitt Romeny and his record in the private sector etc. I somehow never saw him as a President.

As did many early nationwide polls suggested one would have expected the mayor to have won the nomination quite easily. He was the guy with an excellent reputation, mass appeal and had the tag, 'Mayor of the World.'

Not many know that he worked in the Department of Justice in the Reagan adminstration. But, everyone knows that he is the celebrated two-time mayor of New York City. During his tenure he delivered big time and turned around the city - the economy grew and the crime-rate dropped to record lows. Most importantly, he was the mayor on that fateful day of 9/11/2001 and led the recovery efforts following the WTC attacks. The image of the mayor walking amidst the dust fumes with a FDNY hard-hat and a mask covering his face was plastered on TV screens across the world. That image is so vivid and fresh in my memory as I saw it on CNN from my home in India. 'Guiliani' was a household name overnight and an instant celebrity worldwide.

So, this guy had the record, experience and worldly stature so many were envious of! Like his campaign slogan said he was truly ready and tested. Inspite of it all I'm shocked and apalled to see this weird and stupid campaign strategy he's employed . To me, from the outset his strategy made no sense. I'm not quite sure if anyone has ever done this kind of thing in the past and I'm going to assume 'no' as the media hasn't made any reference or drawn comparison with any other campaign strategies used in the past.

I've tried to think so many times what was the man thinking and how on earth did he decide to blatantly ignore the primaries of IA, NH, MI and SC. Was he overconfident? Did he think he doesnt need those states to win? Or, was he allergic to the winter conditions and extreme temperatures of the north that he decided to spend over 50 days in the Florida sun? In an election, where the pundits make a big deal about the momentum you acquire from one win and the impact it will have your subsequent contests how could he not know he needed victories from the start and he can't just jump into FL, win the states and move onto Super Tuesday and carry some 20 other states.

Most folks in counties of Iowa and parts of New Hampshire and South Carolina probably don't even know this Guiliani guy is running for President. Time and again he says he is the only candidate who can run a 50-state campaign but here he already has failed in about four states.

Anyways, all said and done after his poor showing in yesterday's Florida primary I see no chance on him being the nominee this time around. But, remember I still feel he is Presidential material and so hope that he will run again either four or eight years later with a more well-planned; intelligent and concerted strategy that is executed efficiently.