Giuliani Stumps in South Florida

By Beth Reinhard, The Miami Herald

Jan. 14–This is how Rudy Giuliani wants voters to think of him: the strong leader after the Sept. 11 attacks, standing on top of a flag-draped firetruck Sunday that matched his red tie, waving at the cheering crowds.

But the made-for-TV scene from the Three Kings Parade in Little Havana is competing with another national image: a presidential candidate slumping in the polls and burning through cash.

Republican rivals Mike Huckabee and John McCain are riding high from wins in Iowa and New Hampshire. Next up is Michigan and South Carolina; Giuliani is running fifth in both. Some of his campaign staffers have forgone paychecks, though Giuliani said they did it out of an “excess of generosity.”

“We’re in good shape, we really are,” Giuliani told reporters after a rally on Sunday in Pompano Beach attended by about 300 people. “The reality is, we have enough money to get through this. We’re going to be able to contest very strongly here in Florida.”

Giuliani is trying to fend off his fast-rising rivals with pure staying power. He arrived in Florida on Friday and doesn’t plan on leaving before Friday “Florida is Rudy Country,” proclaims the bus he boarded Sunday for a three-day tour that began in Miami and will end in Jacksonville.

COUNTING ON MATH

The former New York City mayor is counting on math, not momentum. The states voting before Florida offer a combined 78 delegates to the GOP nominating convention, while Florida alone will deliver 57. The campaign is banking on Florida catapulting him to victory in nearly two dozen states likely to settle the nomination a week after Florida votes.

“It’s risky,” said state Rep. David Rivera of Miami, a Huckabee supporter who also walked the parade route Sunday. “If you put all your eggs in one basket, you can end up without any eggs.”

Giuliani has the state to himself this week, but that won’t last. The Republican field is expected to flood the state during the 10 days between South Carolina’s vote Saturday and Florida’s primary on Jan. 29. On the heels of come-from-behind victories in smaller states, Huckabee opened a headquarters in Orlando, while McCain’s campaign is setting down roots in Miami, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa and Pensacola. Connecticut Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman, well known in South Florida from his frequent visits as a vice presidential candidate in 2000, will campaign on McCain’s behalf Wednesday and Thursday.

As with most of his previous visits to South Florida, Giuliani stumped Sunday in the politically influential Cuban-American community. He addressed thousands of parishioners at El Rey Jesus church in Miami and got out in front of tens of thousands of people who lined Calle Ocho for the Three Kings parade.

“This is a big deal for him to have so much access,” said Hialeah Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Munoz, a Giuliani supporter who greeted participants in the parade celebrating the story of the three wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus.

Former U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris, who’s fallen out of public view since her disastrous bid for the U.S. Senate in 2006, was spotted at the church. Giuliani staffers said her visit was not planned by the campaign.

ON A FIRETRUCK

Giuliani stood on top of the firetruck for most of the two-mile parade route between Southwest 4th and 22nd avenues, but got out twice to walk and shake hands on the warm January day. Many people clapped, while others were more interested in the floats and circus animals.

About a half-dozen firefighters marched alongside the truck carrying Giuliani, outnumbering a lone protester at the beginning of the route who said the former New York City mayor should have done more to protect rescue workers on 9/11. After some firefighters complained last week about Giuliani riding in the union-owned truck, the union local 1403 struck a compromise by draping a flag over its number.

“Firefighters are a brotherhood and a sisterhood, but there are a few issues that we disagree on,” said Florida Firefighters for Rudy Chairman David Garofalo, whose T-shirt made his allegiance clear.

Miami-Dade County commissioners Rebeca Sosa and Carlos Gimenez rode with Giuliani in the truck. Gimenez, the former Miami fire chief, said of the dispute: “It’s pure politics.”

Giuliani also faced heckling from a couple of anti-abortion activists who followed him from a brief appearance outside a Coconut Grove restaurant to the parade and to his campaign office in Pompano Beach. Giuliani ignored the protesters, while campaign supporters tried to drown them out by shouting “Rudy!” and waving their campaign placards. During the parade, the campaign bus blared music to overpower a protester with a megaphone.

RECURRING THEMES

Giuliani’s speech in Pompano Beach touched on his recurring themes of protecting national security and cutting taxes. He also repeated the call he first made in Coral Springs on Friday for a national catastrophic insurance fund.

Many Florida elected officials support such a fund to help bail out Florida in the event of a devastating hurricane. But states that don’t face recurring natural disasters have stopped the fund from gaining national support.

The insurance fund is a priority for Gov. Charlie Crist, the popular Republican who has not endorsed a candidate.

“The federal government has to be there as a backstop. . . not just to help Florida but to help the entire country,” Giuliani said. “When New York City needed help, the federal government was there.”

Perry Birman, a business owner who drove from Boca Raton to see Giuliani, welcomed his focus on national security.

“He’s gutsy. He’s a courageous man who’s not afraid to stand strong and fight the threat against us,” said Birman, whose T-shirt featured an American flag. “Frankly, the campaign needs to pick up momentum, but there’s no question that he can.”

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