muzzled dogg
03-28-2011, 10:11 AM
POLITICO2012 LIVE Opinion: Rudy Giuliani's bad first date with New Hampshire
By FERGUS CULLEN - UNION LEADER | 3/28/11 7:53 AM EDT
New Hampshire voters are generous with second chances. Gary Hart, Al Gore, Bob Dole and John McCain are examples of the many presidential candidates welcomed back after unsuccessful campaigns to try again. Primary voters renominated U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Rep. Charlie Bass, and former Reps. Paul Hodes and Bob Smith for offices they went on to win after losing earlier bids.
The electorate is forgiving, but not because it has a short memory. Sometimes a candidate doesn't deserve a second chance.
Rudy Giuliani visited Manchester recently to repay political debts, reconnect with past supporters and muse about running for President again. He ate some crow, acknowledging that not paying more attention to New Hampshire last time was a mistake.
Admitting the problem is the first step in recovery, but confession doesn't excuse how bad a campaign Giuliani waged in New Hampshire four years ago. America's Mayor, respected by all for the job he did in New York, let his supporters down and wasted $58 million to win a single delegate, from Nevada. Let Giuliani be a lesson to all future candidates in what not to do.
Giuliani's was the Potemkin Village of presidential campaigns: What looked like a campaign was just a facade for the cameras and national media. It was artifice, disrespectful of the process and the voters. Perhaps this is what campaigns in New York City are, where everything plays out on TV and in the tabloids, where no grassroots grow in the concrete jungle.
In the course of the last campaign, during which I was state Republican Party chairman, I must have met Rudy Giuliani a half-dozen times. But for Giuliani, it was always the first time; he gave no indication of recognizing me. Getting to know individual voters was unimportant. In contrast, McCain and other candidates routinely picked me out of crowds. Mitt Romney even did so at a South Carolina event asking, "Fergus, what are you doing here?"
Wolfeboro is big enough to attract special attention from campaigns. McCain and Romney held town hall meetings there to meet voters, earn support and build their organizations. Giuliani? He stopped at a downtown ice cream stand and got his photo on the front page of the local weekly surrounded by a gawking crowd of... tourists and seasonal residents, not Republican primary voters. This was a typical Potemkin Giuliani event: It looked good to any national reporter traveling with the candidate that day, but the people were just extras.
Late in the campaign, Giuliani held his version of a town hall meeting in Hopkinton. Although it was his first event of the day, the mayor arrived late, then left the audience waiting longer while he did an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. The voters surmised where they stood on Giuliani's priority list. After giving a brief pitch, Giuliani took just four questions. Seeking softballs, he called on a child and a high schooler, filibustering to avoid questions from actual voters. It was awful.
It didn't have to be like that. Giuliani could have done well here, had he made a real effort. Before he ran for president, Giuliani was considered a pragmatic, electable moderate. Conservative Republicans in close elections in swing states would ask Giuliani to campaign with them to attract centrist voters and shield them against charges of being a right-winger. New Hampshire's Republican primary voters include a significant percentage of social moderates and far fewer religious conservatives than Iowa or South Carolina. There was a market for Giuliani.
Candidates who do best in New Hampshire are those who campaign in the traditional way, making themselves available to primary voters at party events, town hall meetings and house parties. That's what Romney did, and how he earned a second chance. Newcomers Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum have already spent more time campaigning among the grassroots than Giuliani did.
Most of us know the experience of having had a bad first date. Usually both participants recognize it didn't work out, but sometimes the guy doesn't get the message, calls again, and needs to be told bluntly: Sorry, Rudy. You had your chance, and much as we respect your resume, we're just not interested in going out again.
Fergus Cullen, a freelance columnist and former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, wrote this op-ed for the Union Leader in New Hampshire. The Union Leader and POLITICO are sharing content for the 2012 presidential campaign cycle.
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Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52038.html#ixzz1HuZCiJvb
By FERGUS CULLEN - UNION LEADER | 3/28/11 7:53 AM EDT
New Hampshire voters are generous with second chances. Gary Hart, Al Gore, Bob Dole and John McCain are examples of the many presidential candidates welcomed back after unsuccessful campaigns to try again. Primary voters renominated U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Rep. Charlie Bass, and former Reps. Paul Hodes and Bob Smith for offices they went on to win after losing earlier bids.
The electorate is forgiving, but not because it has a short memory. Sometimes a candidate doesn't deserve a second chance.
Rudy Giuliani visited Manchester recently to repay political debts, reconnect with past supporters and muse about running for President again. He ate some crow, acknowledging that not paying more attention to New Hampshire last time was a mistake.
Admitting the problem is the first step in recovery, but confession doesn't excuse how bad a campaign Giuliani waged in New Hampshire four years ago. America's Mayor, respected by all for the job he did in New York, let his supporters down and wasted $58 million to win a single delegate, from Nevada. Let Giuliani be a lesson to all future candidates in what not to do.
Giuliani's was the Potemkin Village of presidential campaigns: What looked like a campaign was just a facade for the cameras and national media. It was artifice, disrespectful of the process and the voters. Perhaps this is what campaigns in New York City are, where everything plays out on TV and in the tabloids, where no grassroots grow in the concrete jungle.
In the course of the last campaign, during which I was state Republican Party chairman, I must have met Rudy Giuliani a half-dozen times. But for Giuliani, it was always the first time; he gave no indication of recognizing me. Getting to know individual voters was unimportant. In contrast, McCain and other candidates routinely picked me out of crowds. Mitt Romney even did so at a South Carolina event asking, "Fergus, what are you doing here?"
Wolfeboro is big enough to attract special attention from campaigns. McCain and Romney held town hall meetings there to meet voters, earn support and build their organizations. Giuliani? He stopped at a downtown ice cream stand and got his photo on the front page of the local weekly surrounded by a gawking crowd of... tourists and seasonal residents, not Republican primary voters. This was a typical Potemkin Giuliani event: It looked good to any national reporter traveling with the candidate that day, but the people were just extras.
Late in the campaign, Giuliani held his version of a town hall meeting in Hopkinton. Although it was his first event of the day, the mayor arrived late, then left the audience waiting longer while he did an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. The voters surmised where they stood on Giuliani's priority list. After giving a brief pitch, Giuliani took just four questions. Seeking softballs, he called on a child and a high schooler, filibustering to avoid questions from actual voters. It was awful.
It didn't have to be like that. Giuliani could have done well here, had he made a real effort. Before he ran for president, Giuliani was considered a pragmatic, electable moderate. Conservative Republicans in close elections in swing states would ask Giuliani to campaign with them to attract centrist voters and shield them against charges of being a right-winger. New Hampshire's Republican primary voters include a significant percentage of social moderates and far fewer religious conservatives than Iowa or South Carolina. There was a market for Giuliani.
Candidates who do best in New Hampshire are those who campaign in the traditional way, making themselves available to primary voters at party events, town hall meetings and house parties. That's what Romney did, and how he earned a second chance. Newcomers Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum have already spent more time campaigning among the grassroots than Giuliani did.
Most of us know the experience of having had a bad first date. Usually both participants recognize it didn't work out, but sometimes the guy doesn't get the message, calls again, and needs to be told bluntly: Sorry, Rudy. You had your chance, and much as we respect your resume, we're just not interested in going out again.
Fergus Cullen, a freelance columnist and former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, wrote this op-ed for the Union Leader in New Hampshire. The Union Leader and POLITICO are sharing content for the 2012 presidential campaign cycle.
..
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/52038.html#ixzz1HuZCiJvb