Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign late as mid-December). Giuliani said on January 8 that Florida was "real important" to the campaign, and that they would put "almost everything" into Florida. Several senior staffers in the campaign went without their January paychecks in order to assure that more funds could be spent in the state. A January 14, 2008 poll from Rasmussen Reports showed that Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney were all tied within the margin of error On January 23, 2008, the "Miami-Herald" reported that Giuliani's Florida support was in "freefall" as polls showed him fighting Huckabee (who was only campaigning part-time
Rudy Giuliani withheld support from Giuliani and ran Lauder instead. Conservative Party leaders were unhappy with Giuliani on ideological grounds. They cited the Liberal Party's endorsement statement that Giuliani "agreed with the Liberal Party's views on affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, school prayer and tuition tax credits." During two televised debates, Giuliani framed himself as an agent of change, saying, "I'm the reformer", that "If we keep going merrily along, this city's going down", and that electing Dinkins would represent "more of the same, more of the rotten politics that have been dragging us down". Giuliani pointed out that Dinkins had