Fla. - In a speech aimed at recharging his presidential campaign, Rudy Giuliani on Saturday returned to the issue that made him a front-runner for most of the year: his image as a leader and the memory of Sept. 11, 2001.In a half hour speech that aimed to be Reaganesque in its optimism, Giuliani rolled out his new slogan - "Tested. Ready. Now." He also delivered what amounted to the campaign announcement speech that he never made. Yet he also sought to invoke the emotional images of the devastating terrorist attack of six years ago on New York City when he was mayor there, as he spoke of having seen the ability of "our generation" to overcome terrorism and other difficult problems. "I saw it on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001," he said as he neared the end of his speech. "There were points on that day, that morning too, where I wondered, I wondered whether we had the strength to deal with this, the worst attack in our history, unprecedented, horrific."
He continued, "But, immediately, I saw the courage and strength of our citizens and first responders. When I saw the picture of the firefighters who put the flag up at ground zero, just like the Marines at Iwo Jima many years before, it looked just the same."
Giuliani's return to that image - though one step removed from touting his own well-known performance that day - could be a recognition that just running on his record as a conservative mayor in a liberal city may not be enough. The drain in Giuliani's poll numbers, from an average support of about 30 percent of Republican voters to about 23 percent now, has come as the war in Iraq has calmed some, the threat of Iran eased and his campaigning on Sept. 11 ended. "When the subject matter shifted away from security and foreign affairs, Giuliani's numbers began to dip a bit," said Susan MacManus, an expert on Florida politics at the University of South Florida.
The speech was delivered in the state Giuliani is counting on to give him a boost ahead of his GOP rivals on Feb. 5, when more than 20 states will hold primaries and caucuses. Giuliani is trailing badly in Iowa, which holds its caucus Jan. 3, and dueling for second in several polls in New Hampshire, which votes Jan. 8, and is in a tight race in South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 19. Florida is voting Jan. 29, and Giuliani has made the state a prime focus, visiting frequently.