[Father Thomas Martin]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080130/...el_pr/giuliani

Giuliani prepares to exit, back McCain
By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago


ORLANDO, Fla. - Rudy Giuliani, who bet his presidential hopes on Florida only to come in third, prepared to quit the race Tuesday and endorse his friendliest rival, John McCain.
The former New York mayor stopped short of announcing he was stepping down, but delivered a valedictory speech that was more farewell than fight-on.
Giuliani finished a distant third to winner John McCain and close second-place finisher Mitt Romney. Republican officials said Giuliani would endorse McCain on Wednesday in California. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the public announcement.
"I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," he said as supporters with tight smiles crowded behind him.
"You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right, and you did."
Asked directly if he was dropping out of the race, Giuliani said only: "I'm going to California."
Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to debate in Simi Valley Wednesday night.
Tuesday's result was a remarkable collapse for Giuliani. Last year, he occupied the top of national polls and seemed destined to turn conventional wisdom on end by running as a moderate Republican who supported abortion rights, gay rights and gun control.
"Elections are about fighting for a cause larger than ourselves," he said at one point, echoing one of McCain's most popular refrains.
The results seriously decimated Giuliani's unconventional strategy, which relied heavily on Florida to launch him into the coast-to-coast Feb. 5 nominating contests.
He largely bypassed the early voting states, figuring that the early states would produce multiple winners and no front-runner.
But Florida proved to be less than hospitable. The state's top two Republicans — Sen. Mel Martinez and Gov. Charlie Crist — endorsed McCain. And Giuliani, who once led in state polls, saw his support swiftly erode.
Surveys of voters leaving polling places Tuesday showed that Giuliani was getting backing from some Hispanics, abortion rights supporters and people worried about terrorism, but was not dominating in any area.
McCain, addressing his own supporters moments later in Miami, gave Giuliani a warm rhetorical embrace, a possible prologue to accepting Giuliani's expected support.
"I want to thank my dear friend, my dear friend Rudy Giuliani, who invested his heart and soul in this primary and who conducted himself with all the qualities of the exceptional American leaders he truly is," McCain said. "Thank you Rudy for all you have added to this race and being and for being an inspiration to me and millions of Americans."
Giuliani hung his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on his leadership. His stalwart performance as New York mayor in the tense days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks earned him national magazine covers, international accolades and widespread praise.
Yet, Giuliani was always a Republican anomaly — a moderate-to-liberal New Yorker who backed abortion rights, gay rights and gun control in a party dominated by Southern conservatives.

In the end, as he saluted his backers Tuesday night, Giuliani hardly sounded wistful. But his remarks had the air of finality, of a campaign that had run its course.
"The responsibility of leadership doesn't end with a single campaign, it goes on and you continue to fight for it," Giuliani said. "We ran a campaign that was uplifting."
Giuliani, 63, first gained prominence as a crime-busting federal prosecutor in Manhattan. During a nearly seven-year stretch ending in 1989, Giuliani steered dozens of high-profile cases to completion, garnering more than 4,000 convictions. He tangled with mob bosses, Wall Street executives and corrupt politicians — and was never afraid to invite the bright lights of TV cameras to accompany his quests.
Giuliani's record as a crime-fighter helped propel his next career as a politician, but it wasn't an immediate success. He lost the first time he ran for mayor in 1989 before winning in 1993.
As mayor, he fostered a take-charge image by rushing to fires and crime scenes to brief the press, but some critics felt he was more concerned about taking credit from others for what became a historic decline in the city's crime rate during his tenure.
And, while the cleanup of New York in the 1990s helped the city take advantage of the nation's economic boom, critics — especially in minority communities — complained that Giuliani's tactics were too aggressive and trampled on civil rights.
A bout with prostate cancer and the very public breakup of his marriage with second wife Donna Hanover — she first learned he was filing for divorce when he made the announcement at a televised news conference — forced Giuliani to withdraw from a race for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2000.
By the summer of 2001, public esteem for Giuliani was at a low ebb. On the morning of Sept. 11, Giuliani did what he always did: rushed to the scene.
In the minutes, hours, and days that followed, he presented a calm, determined presence — urging people not to panic, but reminding them of the grim toll of the terrorist attacks. The image of a dusty, sweaty Giuliani walking near Ground Zero, surrounded by firefighters and police, was seared into the national memory.
In December 2001, Time magazine named him "person of the year" and its cover showed Giuliani standing atop a skyscraper in front of the New York City skyline with the label "Rudy Giuliani — tower of strength."
In the years after the attacks, that reputation helped launch a hugely successful consulting business, and got him a major piece of a Washington, D.C.-based law firm with a long list of big corporate clients.
Yet, while Giuliani has long been known as efficient and tough-minded, he also can be brusque, rude and occasionally harsh.
His past associations in business and politics have come under scrutiny. President Bush, at Giuliani's urging, nominated Bernard Kerik, the former New York police commissioner and one-time close associate of Giuliani to head the Homeland Security Department. Kerik withdrew his nomination, and later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of accepting a gift from a company suspected of ties to organized crime.
In the final days of his Florida campaign, the former mayor trailed badly in polls but insisted he would win an upset victory. As the actual votes were counted, only about one in six GOP voters chose Giuliani.
With no working strategy, no primary victories, and dwindling resources, the mayor's third-place finish spelled the end of his campaign, even if his crestfallen supporters couldn't believe it. "They'll be sorry!" a woman with a New York accent called out to the mayor as he spoke. "You sound like my mother," Giuliani joked.

May I join you in exclaiming a big

ALLELUIA! GLORY TO JESUS!
PRAISE THE LORD!

[JennyD]

Why would you be happy that the Catholic is giving up, Papist?

[Father Thomas Martin]

Originally Posted by JennyD

Why would you be happy that the Catholic is giving up, Papist?

Because he is "Catholic in name only" (pro-abortion views and three times divorced & remarried are EXTREMELY contrary to our Catholic faith).

In fact, our bishops have been instructed not to give him Communion should he try to receive!

[Wide-Open]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

give him Communion should he try to receive!

Is that how you call it now eh. Putting something on someone's tongue...

But I agree that we tow the same line on this one!

[Bobby-Joe]

Originally Posted by Wide-Open

Is that how you call it now eh. Putting something on someone's tongue...

But I agree that we tow the same line on this one!

Yes, it is high time RHINOs and Conservative realists stop trying to destroy the Republican party by pushing their agendas and return to being loyal GOP supporters and pull together around the candidate we Evangelicals select.

[Pastor Ezekiel]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

Because he is "Catholic in name only" (pro-abortion views and three times divorced & remarried are EXTREMELY contrary to our Catholic faith).

In fact, our bishops have been instructed not to give him Communion should he try to receive!

So which candidate are you being ordered to vote for by your papist masters in Rome? The thunder lesbian Hillary?

We know that you mary worshipers stuff ballot boxes with the names of dead parishoners and illegal aliens just to try and get your stooge elected to office. That's how we got stuck with JFK (may he rot in hell).

You can't get away with that anymore. Jesus is hip to that slip.

[Father Thomas Martin]

Originally Posted by Pastor Ezekiel

So which candidate are you being ordered to vote for by your papist masters in Rome? The thunder lesbian Hillary?

We know that you mary worshipers stuff ballot boxes with the names of dead parishoners and illegal aliens just to try and get your stooge elected to office. That's how we got stuck with JFK (may he rot in hell).

You can't get away with that anymore. Jesus is hip to that slip.

Actually, I'm voting for McCain.

[Bobby-Joe]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

Actually, I'm voting for McCain.

Thomas,

When are you going to turn to Jesus for guidance. I mean you consider yourself a pastor (of sorts). Jesus own choice is very clear here; Mike Huckabee, yet you go for the possible traitor in the War Against Communism.

It is too much to ask you to be more than a Christian in name only, just this once "Father" Thomas?

[Nobar King]

ifgures

[H. Montague Worthington]

I am going to pray that Jooliani's supporters move to The Huckabee Bandwagon.

[Father Thomas Martin]

Originally Posted by Bobby-Joe

Thomas,

When are you going to turn to Jesus for guidance. I mean you consider yourself a pastor (of sorts). Jesus own choice is very clear here; Mike Huckabee, yet you go for the possible traitor in the War Against Communism.

It is too much to ask you to be more than a Christian in name only, just this once "Father" Thomas?

I would vote for Huckabee, but he doesn't have much of a chance of winning...So to me, a vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for Milt Romney (yikes!)

[Pastor Billy-Reuben]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

I would vote for Huckabee, but he doesn't have much of a chance of winning...So to me, a vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for Milt Romney (yikes!)

Your primary isn't until February 19th and is therefore irrelevant. The candidates will already be decided by then, so your vote won't count anyway. The only way you can make a difference is by driving down to Illinois to help with get-out-the-vote campaigns. The most recent polls in that state show Pastor Huckabee with a double-digit margin over both McCain and Romney.

My state's primary isn't until May. I will be in Savannah, Georgia this weekend helping the Huckabee campaign there, just like I was in Spartanburg before the SC primary. Huckabee would have won SC by a strong margin if Thompson hadn't been in the race.

Pastor Billy-Reuben

[Father Thomas Martin]

Originally Posted by Pastor Billy-Reuben

Your primary isn't until February 19th and is therefore irrelevant. The candidates will already be decided by then, so your vote won't count anyway. The only way you can make a difference is by driving down to Illinois to help with get-out-the-vote campaigns. The most recent polls in that state show Pastor Huckabee with a double-digit margin over both McCain and Romney.

My state's primary isn't until May. I will be in Savannah, Georgia this weekend helping the Huckabee campaign there, just like I was in Spartanburg before the SC primary. Huckabee would have won SC by a strong margin if Thompson hadn't been in the race.

Pastor Billy-Reuben

Don't be so sure...Super Tuesday is not as sure of a decider as you think!

If Huckabee drops out of the Republican nomination race, will you have him run under your political party (You'd have to sideline your Bush/Cheney '08 campaign for it!)

[Andrew Barrick]

Well, it looks like God is narrowing it down to His one and only final choice: Rev. Mike Huckabee for Pastor-in-Chief.

[Father Thomas Martin]

I will reitierate my statement:

Should Catholicism be made illegal, I will flee to Latin America where we have a strong presence and we will be free to support our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!

[JennyD]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

I will reitierate my statement:

Should Catholicism be made illegal, I will flee to Latin America where we have a strong presence and we will be free to support our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!

Gave up on Puerto Rico?

Why not Cuba?

[Brother Temperance]

Originally Posted by H. Montague Worthington

I am going to pray that Jooliani's supporters move to The Huckabee Bandwagon.

Whatever they do, I am going to pray that Jooliani's Mary-Worshipping supporters stop breeding like maggots and hatching sinister plots to turn us all queer by taking our guns away.

Originally Posted by Pastor Billy-Reuben

Your primary isn't until February 19th and is therefore irrelevant. The candidates will already be decided by then, so your vote won't count anyway.

The Papist has a vote? I thought convicted felons lost that right. Does raping little kids not count as a felony anymore?

[Father Thomas Martin]

Originally Posted by Brother Temperance

Whatever they do, I am going to pray that Jooliani's Mary-Worshipping supporters stop breeding like maggots and hatching sinister plots to turn us all queer by taking our guns away.

No true Catholic would support Guliani. He has maintained an anti-life position, and has divorced and remarried three times. And if he goes up for Communion, we've been told to deny it! (Jesus-Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity-deserves better than to be profaned like that!)

Originally Posted by Brother Temperance

The Papist has a vote? I thought convicted felons lost that right. Does raping little kids not count as a felony anymore?

Only 4% do that (and they usually get layicized)...I'm part of the 96% who don't!

[Bobby-Joe]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

Only 4% do that (and they usually get layicized)...I'm part of the 96% who don't stop the molesters and cover for them!

You've omitted a bit from your' statement Father Thomas.

[Ahimaaz Smith]

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

In fact, our bishops have been instructed not to give him Communion should he try to receive!

Have some compassion, man. I don't want Rudy to be President either, but he's probably a sex-crazed, woman chasing, fornicating, transvestite homosexual because of what YOUR priesthood did to him when he was a child.

Originally Posted by H. Montague Worthington

I am going to pray that Jooliani's supporters move to The Huckabee Bandwagon.

No doubt. Giuliani had the Republican nomination locked up tighter than a Landover virgin's grip on the One True Faith, Bible Believing Baptism. But the hand of the Lord moved Rudy to abandon all of the early primaries to clear the way for Mike Huckabee. One down, just two more to go.

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

I would vote for Huckabee, but he doesn't have much of a chance of winning...So to me, a vote for Mike Huckabee is a vote for Milt Romney (yikes!)

Huckabee is God's candidate, so how could he possibly lose? But, since at least you see through Willard "Mitt" Romney's sham conservatism, I take back many of the unpleasant things that I have said about you, both inside this forum and elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

If Huckabee drops out of the Republican nomination race, will you have him run under your political party (You'd have to sideline your Bush/Cheney '08 campaign for it!)

Won't happen, but, if it does, we'd probably start a draft Cheney/Bush movement within the Republican party. After all, who's had more experience relevant to being President than Dick Cheney? After that, there's always Jeb. Sixteen more years! Sixteen more years!

Originally Posted by Father Thomas Martin

Should Catholicism be made illegal, I will flee to Latin America...

One more reason to pray for the suppression of the heretic Catholic religion in America.