Giuliani Makes Last-Ditch Effort in Florida
Giuliani supporters are confident of a victory. Young Republicans, who tend to favor Giuliani, are arriving en masse. A phone bank in the headquarters just outside Orlando is teeming with young people who take shifts on about a dozen phones. One of them is Giuliani's first cousin once removed whose name is...Rudy Giuliani. "I have to show my ID a lot," he laments. He quit his job at a car dealership to volunteer. He says his famous cousin is pretty similar around family as he is around voters. "He's tough and strong-willed. But he's really affable."
Fittingly, many of the supporters are from the New York area and were inspired by Giuliani's performance as mayor. "September 11 just slapped all of us in the face," says Conor Rogers, an 18-year-old from suburban Bergen County, N.J. His school locked the terrified students inside, clamped down the windows, and shut off the water until it got the OK from authorities. Rogers's friend lost a father in the attack. "Some people reacted, like, 'The world sucks,'" Rogers said. "Some reacted, 'Let's change the world.'"
On Saturday, Rogers arrived in Florida to do the latter, and spent the next day knocking on doors of Winter Park voters to drum up support for his candidate. Results were mixed. Of those who answered their door, several said they supported Romney. One man opened the door to see the slight Rogers, wearing two Rudy bumper stickers on his chest. "Rudy is not my man," he said gruffly. "I lived in New York for 30 years and hated him." Rogers walked away, mumbling, "He's the only one." After staking everything on winning Florida, the Giuliani campaign had better hope so. The former mayor is pledging to fight through to February 5, Super Tuesday, win or lose. But even at his rallies he is tacitly acknowledging that Florida is do-or-die. Just before signing a surfboard at Ron Jon's, he declared, "If I win here we're going right on to the nomination!" Left unsaid was what a loss would mean.
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