Rudy Giuliani Expected to Announce He is Ending His Presidential Campaign

Although, as of this moment, he has not made an official announcement, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to announce that he is ending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Once considered to be almost the runaway candidate and the one that would win the nomination hands down, the Giuliani campaign has been consistently slipping and there are many reasons that have contributed to what could very well be the end of his political career. Of course, there is talk that he could be appointed to a cabinet post in the event that the next President is the Republican nominee - Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense or Director of Homeland Security.

But the talk now is about what went wrong. He took a dangerous strategy in skipping the early caucuses and primaries. The thought was that they were not he did not have strong support there and in Florida there are many transplanted New Yorkers who would remember him when he was known as America's mayor. But in doing so, he lost momentum. He was not the one that the headlines were being written about. It was Romeny and Huckabee and lately McCain, who is now considered to be the front runner and the one who Giuliani is going to support. Would it have been different if he had participated? Imagine what the situation would have been if he had focused on one of two of the early contests. If he had made a good showing in just one of them, he would have had his share of the headlines and free publicity and yes, money plays a part too.

He campaign has not been doing well fund raising, so he took a calculated risk, put all his hopes in Florida and lost.

Now more than ever before a candidates personal life is delved into in minute detail and just the hint of anything that the public would not approve of can turn enough of the voters to someone else. He had to contend with the issue of using New York City funds to chauffeur and protect his future, now current, wife. Whether or not it is true does not matter to some voters. The thought is in their minds and it does make a difference.

How much of an impact will his leaving the race have? Today there is another Republican debate and there will be one less participant. The public is already focused on the Republicans today and making the announcement at this time will turn a lot of focus to McCain. Also, if he does endorse McCain as he is expected to, it will mean that he will not be disappearing into the background anytime soon. He is a campaigner and expect him to be out on the trail until the convention and beyond.

Will there be a big impact on super Tuesday, which is just next Tuesday? Not really. His supporters will have to pick a new number one, and most probably many of them will follow his lead and support who he supports. But his percentages have been low. Many of his early supporters have already left. It cold very well be that the candidate for the Republicans will not be chosen until the convention. But the world of politics is like no other and next Tuesday could be one of the biggest days in American history.

Sources:
CNN/Time
Asssociated Press
New York Times