Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign in the Iowa Caucus. Some political observers have opined that the Straw Poll results are bought by campaigns. Giuliani had emerged as the frontrunner after overtaking John McCain in the polls. With the exposure and eventual entrance of Fred Thompson into the field, Giuliani's poll numbers began to drop. But he held on to his status as frontrunner. According to the CBS News Poll taken June 26–28, Giuliani held the lead over Thompson 34% to 21%. In the second quarter, Giuliani revealed that he raised $17 million, first among Republicans and third overall behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. On
Rudy Giuliani be one of McCain's most active surrogates during the remainder of McCain's eventually unsuccessful campaign. Following the end of his presidential campaign, Giuliani's "high appearance fees dropped like a stone." He returned to work at both Giuliani Partners and Bracewell & Giuliani. Giuliani explored hosting a syndicated radio show, and was reported to be in talks with Westwood One about replacing Bill O'Reilly before that position went to Fred Thompson (another unsuccessful '08 GOP Presidential primary candidate). During the March 2009 AIG bonus payments controversy, Giuliani called for U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to step down and said that the