Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign The 2008 presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani began following the formation of the Draft Giuliani movement in October 2005. The next year, Giuliani opened an exploratory committee and formally announced in February 2007 that he was actively seeking the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. At the onset of the campaign, Giuliani had held a significant lead in the nationwide polls by January 2007. His runner up in the polls, Senator John McCain, had his candidacy falter, and throughout 2007, Giuliani maintained his lead in both national polls and fundraising. Political observers predicted that Giuliani's
Rudy Giuliani in other early contests, when Giuliani's staff went without pay in order to focus all efforts on the crucial late January Florida Republican primary. The shift of the electorate's focus from national security to the state of the economy also hurt Giuliani, as did the resurgence of McCain's similarly themed campaign. On January 29, 2008, Giuliani finished a distant third in the Florida result with 15 percent of the vote, trailing McCain and Romney. Facing declining polls and lost leads in the upcoming large Super Tuesday states, including that of his home New York, Giuliani withdrew from the race on