BEDFORD, N.H.—Republican Rudy Giuliani defended his plan to expand the U.S. military Thursday, telling skeptical voters that he could do so while keeping government spending in check.
Several workers at Segway Inc. questioned the former New York mayor about his plan to add 10 new brigades to the Army and provide more equipment and weapons to other branches of the military.
After listening to Giuliani's stump speech in which he heavily emphasizes his commitment to lowering taxes, Marie Yanish asked him to "speak a little bit about the apparent conflict between lowering taxes and increasing the military budget."
Giuliani told her he would find taxes that would produce more revenue at lower rates. He said that strategy worked when he was mayor because he knew how to analyze a situation and take risks.
"One's not a tradeoff for the other," he said.
Another voter asked Giuliani what spending he would cut to make up for the increase in the military budget. He explained his plan to trim the federal workforce by not replacing workers who retire and to ask most federal agencies to scale back their budgets.
"It's essentially the same model I followed as mayor of New York City. I increased police, because we had a big crime problem. So I would increase the military, because we have a problem of terrorist threats," he said. "I also increased teachers ... but I reduced everything else."
Giuliani returned to his lower taxes theme when Bill Bleem, Segway's information technology director, asked Giuliani how he would get members of Congress to work with each other and the president.
"On the things where you really have to get things done and you don't have a majority, the only way the president can do it is go to the American people and get the American people on your side," he said. "Get the American people to believe that we need to lower taxes. Get them to understand that tax reduction is not about helping the rich. Tax reduction is about helping the growth of the entire economy."
Bleem wasn't impressed with the answer. He said he has voted for Republicans in the last two elections but probably will vote for a Democrat this time.
"He ducked it," he said. "We need a president who can pull (Congress) together or he accomplishes nothing."
Giuliani, who was heading to Florida later Thursday, said he didn't regret his decision to largely skip the Iowa caucus.
"The reason for it is we see this as a different kind of election. We've never had 29 primary and caucuses in one month," he told reporters. "This is extraordinary. Something different is going to win this election. We hope it's our different strategy that wins it. And we're confident it will."
Asked about polls that show his support dropping in New Hampshire, Giuliani said he is in good shape considering the amount of money Romney has spent there and the amount of time McCain has spent.
"Given our proportionate approach ... I think we're doing pretty well and I think in these last few days we're going to see a strong finish."
