Giuliani's As McCain Dream is Over Takes the Lead ; (1) US ELECTION COUNTDOWN(2) 'It May Not Have Be

Jan 30, 06:04 PM

RUDY GIULIANI'S presidential ambitions were in tatters today after a crushing defeat in the Florida primary.

The former New York mayor struggled to third place in the crucial Republican vote which was won by Senator John McCain.

Republican sources said Mr Giuliani will now drop out of the White House race and endorse Mr McCain.

Mr Giuliani, who revelled in his nickname "America's Mayor" after his leadership in the 9/11 crisis, had gambled his entire election campaign on victory in Florida, ceding earlier contests to the other candidates.

Despite spending millions on TV advertising and spending more time in the "sunshine state" home to tens of thousands of retired New Yorkers than any other candidate, his ploy backfired spectacularly.

He polled only 15 per cent of the vote, compared with Mr McCain's 36 per cent.

Mr Giuliani did not drop out of the contest immediately but did refer to his campaign in the past tense. "I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," he said. "You don't always win, but you 'It may not have been can always try to do it right, and you did." He was flying to California today, where he was expected to announce he was dropping out, sources told the US TV network ABC. Asked directly if he was dropping out, he said only: "I'm going to California." Campaign chiefs from the

McCain and Giuliani camps are understood to have had preliminary discussions about an endorsement.

"We are working to make it happen," said a source close to Mr Giuliani.

Former Massachusetts senator Mitt Romney was runner-up in the contest with 30 per cent. His election campaign is still alive going into a vital week of campaigning before Super Tuesday on 5 February when 24 states hold primaries.

Mr McCain's victory cements his position as clear frontrunner to secure the Republican nomination. It was the Arizona senator's third primary win, after New Hampshire and South Carolina.

He told his supporters in Miami his victory may not have been a landslide but was "sweet nonetheless". He said: "This was a hard fought election that was worth fighting hard for. My friends: in one week, one week, we will have as close to a national primary as we've ever had in this country.

I intend to win it and be the nominee of our party.

"It shows one thing. I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party." Republican delegates will vote at the party convention in September to choose the candidate to fight the November election.

For the Democrats, Florida was largely symbolic. Hillary Clinton took a commanding 50 per cent to Barack Obama's 33 per cent.

The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of all its convention delegates for breaking party rules by bringing forward the date of its primary. But that did not stop

Mrs Clinton flying in for a celebration rally.

"I am convinced that with this resounding vote, with the millions of Americans who will vote next Tuesday, we will send a clear message that America is back and we will take charge of our destiny once again," she said to a boisterous crowd.

But the rival camp of Barack Obama said that without delegates the outcome meant nothing.

"Now that Senator Clinton has lost badly in South Carolina, she's trying to assign meaning to a contest that awards zero delegates and where no campaigning has occurred," Mr Obama's spokesman Bill Burton said.

All eyes are now on Super Tuesday.

The key results will be in California, New York and the middle America states of Missouri, Colorado and Kansas..

(c) 2008 Evening Standard; London (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Giuliani's As McCain Dream is Over Takes the Lead ; (1) US ELECTION COUNTDOWN(2) 'It May Not Have Be
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