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Giuliani vague about post-Fla. campaign plans

BY TOM BRUNE.tom.brune@newsday.com

January 27, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. - With a third-place showing staring him in the face, Rudy Giuliani ducked questions yesterday about whether he will stay in the race if he loses Tuesday's must-win Florida primary.

Before the GOP debate Thursday, Giuliani said he had no plans to end his campaign when asked about his third-place showing in polls. But since then he has stepped back, saying he would not even entertain "any thoughts other than winning Florida."

Yet Giuliani suffered a major setback last night when John McCain, who is battling with Mitt Romney for first place, won the endorsement of popular Florida Gov. Charlie Crist at a Pinellas County GOP Lincoln Day dinner in St. Petersburg.

"I don't think anybody would do better than the man who stands next to me," Crist said as he stood by McCain.

That was something of a surprise. An invitation sent out two weeks ago said Crist would make a "special appearance" at another GOP Lincoln Day dinner, the one held here last night by the Orange County GOP, featuring Giuliani as the keynote speaker.

Giuliani also lost the endorsement of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) to McCain on Friday.

Fearing a two-way race without him, Giuliani yesterday tried to insert himself into the heated battle of words between McCain and Romney over Iraq and economic credentials by decrying it as a "nasty" fight and "negative campaigning."

Voters are tired of negative fights, he said. "The reason I'm staying positive is that's the way to win."

McCain touched off the battle by telling reporters, "If we surrender and wave a white flag, like Senator [Hillary] Clinton wants to do, and withdraw, as Governor Romney wanted to do, then there will be chaos, genocide, and the cost of American blood and treasure would be dramatically higher."

In Land O' Lakes, Romney shot back, "That's dishonest, to say that I have a specific date," for U.S. troop withdrawal and demanded an apology, The Associated Press reported.

"The apology is owed to the young men and women serving this nation in uniform," McCain said in Sun City.

On Friday, Romney made much of McCain's comments late last year that he knows "a lot less about economics" than military and foreign policy.

Giuliani used the fight to repeat charges that McCain is weak on the economy and Romney is soft on national security. "I am the complete candidate," he said. "I have experience in both areas."

But poll after poll shows Giuliani trailing McCain and Romney, and some showing him tied with Mike Huckabee, a part-time campaigner here.

Florida political analysts warn that primaries here are tricky to predict. But they acknowledge it does not look encouraging for Giuliani.

Anything other than a win, said Susan MacManus, political science professor at the University of South Florida, "It's big trouble for him."

Giuliani's aides argue he has an edge in early voting and absentee ballots, which they predict will hit a high of 500,000.

Asked if Giuliani will stay in the race no matter what, an aide said, "That's the plan."

But last week, when asked how he'll do, Giuliani prefaced his prediction of a win with the comment, "I'm an optimist."

Yesterday, he said, "I like feeling like an underdog. I think underdogs get a lot of sympathy. I think underdogs get a lot of support."