Before Christmas professional politicians predicted Rudy Giuliani, his campaign floundering, would pull his advertising, flee New Hampshire and head to Florida. But Rudy himself insisted he would spend part of his Christmas vacation here. Maybe even go skiing.
And true to his word by Christmas he was back on the stump. At a house party we stumbled across one excited follower - John Deads, the New Hampshire state co-chair of Veterans for Rudy - who said Giuliani was his man because the former mayor of the city of New York would take the war to the Muslims and drive them back into their caves. Another supporter said Rudy was the man to shoot people in the head if need be.
Almost as a supplement to his anti-terrorist message, Rudy often focuses on health care and immigration.
He acknowledges health care as a major problem, but hopes the country can provide basic insurance for everyone without a national health insurance system. He looks to free enterprise competition for the solution, although holds out the possibility of government assistance by means of tax cuts so the middle class can obtain coverage. It is a mistake to think the poor don't have health insurance, he says. They are covered by Medicaid. It is the middle class which needs the most help. The Democrats are off on the wrong track, he says, with an emphasis on government regulation. "They think they know more than anybody else." In fact, the poor are being pushed off Medicaid as the Republican government tightens the social welfare plans.
Immigration poses another serious division within the country. The best bet here, he suggests, is to use technology to create a real barrier to illegals coming across the southern border with Mexico. Then Giuliani suggests what amounts to an amnesty for those already here. If they don't identify themselves, then they should be kicked out. He would ask the illegals here to come forward. Since no one will know who they are, he is offering them a form of amnesty as well.
9/11 has been the centre of his campaign with Giuliani casting himself in the mold of a Churchill. There he was in the midst of the disaster. He doesn't say so, but everyone knows that by contrast, President Bush was jumping about the country from one protected bastion to another
