Giuliani urges Florida voters to ignore pundits

By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff

In a new television ad that begins airing today, Rudy Giuliani's campaign is urging Florida voters to ignore the political pundits when they vote in the Republican presidential primary and "show the world that leadership is what really matters."

Titled "Super Bowl," the 30-second spot features banks of television screens with commentators as a narrator says "With pundits and politicos handicapping the campaign like the Super Bowl, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s at stake."

As images of gasoline prices spinning higher, US troops in Iraq, and a parent and child appear on screen, the announcer says, "An economy in peril. A country at war. A future uncertain."

Over more video of talking heads, he says: "The media loves process. Talking heads love chatter." Then, over footage of Giuliani speaking at a microphone, the narrator concludes: "But Florida has a chance to turn down the noise. And show the world that leadership is what really matters."

The ad is an affirmation of the former New York mayor's highly unconventional strategy that targets the Jan. 29 primary in the Sunshine State as his best chance to move past his GOP rivals, even with a half-dozen primaries and caucuses before Florida. Giuliani's lead in national polls has all but disappeared, he finished sixth in the Iowa caucuses and, despite expenditure of a considerable amount of time and money, placed fourth in the New Hampshire primary. He is not seriously contesting Tuesday's primary in Michigan or the Jan. 19 primary in South Carolina and caucuses in Nevada.

But Giuliani has devoted heavy resources and a lot of time in Florida, as well as several of the more than 20 states that will vote on Feb. 5, when few candidates will have enough money to wage more than token media campaigns and the Giuliani campaign is banking on his high name recognition as a critical asset.

The Giuliani campaign did not disclose the amount being spent, but a service that monitors ad buys of all the candidates reported the weeklong cost at almost $640,000 total in the Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, and Ft. Myers markets, which when combined reach about 70 percent of the state's electorate.

Giuliani also launched another new TV ad today in Florida, and nationally on Fox News Network, promoting his tax cut proposals.

In that ad, the narrator says, "On his first day in office, Rudy Giuliani will send Congress the largest tax cut in American history," and graphics say it will save taxpayers trillions of dollars.

Giuliani then appears and declares, "I would lower taxes as President of the United States because it's not just an ideology or a theory for me." The announcer then says that as New York mayor, Giuliani "delivered more tax relief than the other Republicans combined."

Giuliani has said he would seek to cut corporate and personal income taxes, index tax rates for inflation, phase out the alternative minimum tax, and repeal the federal estate tax.

His campaign has not produced any data on what the impact of the tax cuts would be on the federal budget, which is already operating at a significant deficit while paying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Giuliani has also not detailed what cuts he would ask Congress to make in federal spending to pay for the tax cuts or his proposed health insurance plan, which would offer substantial tax incentives for the purchase of individual health insurance policies.

While mayor, Giuliani pushed through 15 tax cuts, all of which took effect during the expanding national economy of the late 1990s. He also takes credit for seven other cuts initiated by the state legislature as well as the largest of the cuts, which was scheduled to expire anyway.