Giuliani, Seen as ‘9/11 Candidate,’ Bows out
Rudy Giuliani has formally dropped out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination after a poor showing (NYT) in Florida. Giuliani had put most of his campaign
efforts in recent weeks into the Florida race, all but ignoring other key states where other leading candidates were active. Exit polls from Florida showed Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) captured many of the security-conscious voters Giuliani was courting. Giuliani has now signaled he will throw his support (ABC) behind McCain’s campaign.
Throughout his campaign, Giuliani touted his experience as mayor of New York City during the 9/11 terrorist attacks as evidence of his leadership abilities and homeland security expertise. But he came under fire when some Democratic opponents and pundits accused him of exploiting 9/11 for personal political gain. In an October 2007 Democratic debate, then-presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) said of Giuliani, “there’s only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11.” Giuliani took a hard line on national security issues like the war on terror, U.S.-Iran policy and the Iraq war from what he saw as a position of expertise on terrorism as a result of his experience, which included his work as U.S. attorney with jurisdiction over New York City. In his September 2007 Foreign Affairs essay, Giuliani called, among other things, for the expansion of NATO to include “any state that meets basic standards of good governance, military readiness, and global responsibility,” to help contain global threats.
On immigration policy, which has proved to be an important issue for Republicans, Giuliani attempted to position himself as pragmatic but tough. He faced accusations from leading Republican opponent Mitt Romney of having run a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants in New York. Giuliani denied that claim, and called for a “sensible solution” to the issue that would allow illegal immigrant workers who are not involved in criminal activity to “come forward” and pay taxes. He also proposed the creation of a high-tech fence on the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent further illegal immigration.
