Former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani on Monday boasted of not winning the backing of a single "liberal newspaper" on the eve of Florida's Republican presidential primary.
"Rudy Giuliani is not endorsed by The Tampa Tribune. Not endorsed by the Orlando Sentinel. Not endorsed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. In fact, he's not endorsed by any of the liberal newspapers," his new Internet campaign video says.
During the last debate among Republican White House hopefuls on Thursday, Giuliani said he was pleased he had not won the support of the New York Times, considered a bastion of liberal thinking.
Instead, the Times endorsed John McCain for the Republican ticket in the November presidential election and plumped for New York Senator Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side.
Giuliani said the paper had snubbed him because "I probably never did anything the New York Times suggested I do in eight years as mayor of New York City."
"And if I did, I wouldn't be considered a conservative Republican."
Giuliani has staked his whole campaign on a risky strategy of skipping the early contests and winning Florida, to sweep into Super Tuesday on February 5 when more than 20 states vote.
But with Senator John McCain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney locked in a two-way race in Florida polls ahead of Tuesday's vote, Giuliani is facing a possible debacle.
In a new Zogby poll conducted over the weekend, Giuliani was left trailing in third place on 14 percent, ahead of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee on 11 percent.
Copyright AFP 2007