Rudy Guiliani insisted Wednesday he could survive a loss in Florida's Jan. 29 primary, even as he launched a three-day swing through the state that underscores how critical he views its capture for the GOP nomination.
"There is no one win that is absolutely essential," he told reporters after a closed-door meeting with a dozen veterans at an American Legion Post in the Gulf Coast community of Largo.
Still, he acknowledged, "This will be a very important primary. If you win Florida it says something about your ability to win a general election."
Breaking from conventional wisdom, Giuliani's campaign is putting less emphasis on the first two party contests in Iowa and New Hampshire and focusing instead on Florida in the hope that a win there will help him sweep Super Tuesday voting in 20 states in February.
A Quinnipiac University poll published Thursday shows him leading Florida with 28 percent of GOP votes, compared to 21 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and 20 percent for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Arizona Sen. John McCain trails at 13 percent.
However, aggregates of polls conducted in mid-December show Guiliani only 2 points ahead of Huckabee and 4 points ahead of Romney.
The thrice-married Giuliani who favors abortion rights has a good shot at Florida, a state whose diversity mirrors that of the nation -- and certainly that of New York -- and where security concerns trump morality, according to Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
However, Giuliani is "placing all his eggs in a very big basket," she warned. "So if he doesn't win that basket, it could cause him problems."
Giuliani, a prostate-cancer survivor who last week was briefly hospitalized with what he called a severe headache, appeared animated and declared himself "fully recovered."
His latest swing through Florida focuses on the state's 1.8 million veterans, the largest number of any state except California. Though evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, veterans have high voting rates and with relatives could generate as much as one-fifth of the Florida vote, said Charlie Price, a Korean and Vietnam veteran and GOP organizer.
"You are my heroes," Giuliani, who got a student deferment in the Vietnam era but is emphasizing his image as a tough law enforcer and leader during the 9/11 terror attacks, told the dozen assembled vets before his aides ushered media from the meeting. He compared a photo of firefighters raising an American flag above Ground Zero after Sept. 11 to the famous image of Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima in 1945.
Giuliani also repeated vows to dramatically build up the armed forces if elected and to improve care for veterans, saying better services would persuade new recruits to enlist.
Outside the post, a dozen supporters of libertarian GOP candidate Ron Paul, who has called for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq, chanted anti-Giuliani slogans decrying his support for the war. But inside, many veterans who attended the gathering said they were impressed with Giuliani's commitment on military matters.
"He sounds dedicated. I'm pretty convinced he's the one for me," said Frank Chicollo, 59, a Vietnam veteran who had been undecided when he entered the meeting.
Chicollo said he also liked McCain, a former POW, but added, "I think Giuliani is more electable."
While other GOP candidates zigzagged yesterday through Iowa and New Hampshire, Chicollo's view was what Giuliani aides were banking on.