Rudy Giuliani Runs Late to Open Mike Night in Tampa

Hosts Steve and Leigh got quite a surprise for their regular scheduled Open Mic night at La Casa Dolce Coffee House in Tampa Florida. Rudy Giuliani, Republican Party presidential front-runner, was coming to make an appearance. Heather Weintraub, the local campaign coordinator, did not know that Monday is Open Mic night, after all, Rudy was supposed to arrive at 5:30 p.m., and the performers take the impromptu stage at 7, so who would have thought that there would be a conflict? Heather did not know that this same venue is also a regular host to the tie dyed, anti-war, unknown musician clique.

A more iconic couple for the state of the national mood would be hard to find. Steve is a Republican who hates politicians. Leigh is his wife who is writing and performing anti-war songs. Steve plays mandolin, Leigh sings and plays guitar. Her songs have been picked up for airplay on local community radio, and received mention on Neil Young's anti-war website playlist. Leigh was not pleased that the start time for the Open Mic would have to be pushed back, due to Presidential Politics, but she made the best of it.

South Howard Avenue is the location of one of Tampa's Restaurant districts, anchored by world famous Bern's Steakhouse. Across the street from Casa Dolce, Michael Moore conducted a John Kerry rally on a vacant lot with 500 Democrat activists in the waning hours of the 2004 Presidential election. The area is peppered with martini and gay bars, La Casa Dolce is not seedy or run down, it is clean and new.

That is how it went down, 75 Republicans crammed into a space normally supporting 25 musicians and their fans on an odd Monday night. Rudy was late. Many of those who showed up to see him left and the crowd of Rudy supporters dwindled to an enthusiastic fifty. The event coordinators, Molly and Heather, two attractive Republican blonds continued to receive cell phone updates from the campaign aircraft, about Rudy's arrival time. The air conditioning was taxed to the maximum. The three employees behind the chilled counter mostly kept up with the coffee and dessert orders. The newspapers, radio and TV reporters made small talk mostly on their cell phones and blackberries.

What was notable was who was not there. George Steinbrenner and Al Austin, the money men, were holding a private reception at another location. The only elected official to attend was the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, Rob Turner. When Rudy arrived, he made an appearance on the sidewalk for the TV cameras. Rudy walked inside, closely followed by the well wishers. Inside he spoke briefly to the campaign volunteers. He repeated exactly what he had said earlier in the day. "Florida is an important state. We know that Florida decides the nominee. We will spend a lot of time in Florida, and we expect to win the state. We have not decided to write the State off, as have some other candidates." There was no stage, no microphone, no media riser, and very little time.

It would be unfair to draw a contrast with a similar event produced by the Mitt Romney team the previous month. La Teresita Restaurant is a historic Spanish Restaurant that anchors Tampa's Latin cuisine area known as "Boliche Boulevard." The restaurant that Mitt visited had space for 400 people, and Mitt filled every seat. Mitt, joined by his wife Ann, was on time, and he spoke for fifteen minutes, and then took numerous questions from the crowd. Even the glad handing and picture taking, just could not compare, Mitt shook more hands and graciously posed for every portrait, be it a cell phone camera or Hasselblad. Mitt's event was billed as "Ask Mitt Anything," and Mitt was faithful to the billing, he answered every question that the large crowd could muster. There were satellite trucks and media risers and many elected officials. The properly timed event had ample coverage on the evening news.

To be fair to the Giuliani statewide effort, Rudy did have an event at a St. Petersburg High School in April. This event ostensibly was attended by 700 people, including quite a number of office holders. But the truth behind the attendance was that the seats were filled with students not voters, and the officeholders were party loyalists, not truly Giuliani endorsers. So the question remains: Can Rudy draw a crowd in West Central Florida?

Rudy left after less than 15 minutes. But Joe, an Iraqi war veteran, who was attending with his two sons did have a memorable moment. It was Joe's intent to give to Rudy a specially minted coin that Joe had carried through his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Joe communicated his wish to Bill McCollum, the Attorney General of the State of Florida who had arrived with Rudy as the leader of his campaign in Florida. Bill McCollum made it happen for Joe. Just before the black limousine and the black Suburban departed, Bill called Joe over to meet Rudy at the door of the car. There, veteran Joe told Rudy the story of the coin, and gave the gift to him. Sometimes, the strict reporting guidelines of the McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Act, just have no meaning to Republicans at all.