Myers criticizes Giuliani’s strategy

Del. LeRoy MyersSays Campaign Decisions ‘Made No Sense'

Delegate LeRoy E. Myers, Jr. was heavily critical of the strategy that the presidential campaign of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani presented over the last month, saying the mayor's decision to "put everything into Florida" did not "make any sense."

Giuliani dropped out of the race after finishing a distant third behind Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in Tuesday's Florida primary. The mayor endorsed McCain upon his withdrawal.

Myers, a member of the House of Delegates since 2003, was a pledged Giuliani supporter and delegate in Maryland. He knows a thing or two about campaign strategy, having defeated the sitting House Speaker Cas Taylor in 2002.

Discussing his decision to become a Giuliani delegate, Myers said, "I thought there would be more activity in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina."

Financially strapped, the Giuliani team made a decision in December to do very little campaigning in the early primary and caucus states; choosing instead to focus on Florida, with their large population of retired and former New Yorkers.

Myers said that when he first learned of that decision he figured it was "nonsense."

"It goes against all trends as to how you campaign," he said.

The delegate said the campaign should have implored the candidate to "at least show up" in the early states.

Without that, Myers said, Giuliani was "totally off the radar screen."

In addition, Myers said he was "very disappointed" by the mayor's decision to end his campaign after Florida.

Myers said he would like to know "what happened to the Super Tuesday philosophy?"

After putting all his eggs in the Florida basket, Myers said Giuliani should have stayed in the race "at least one-more week," until Feb. 5, when voters in more than 20 states cast ballots.

Speculation had arisen that Giuliani decided to end his campaign before Feb. 5 because he was trailing McCain in his home state of New York in several polls and did not want to face the embarrassment of possibly losing the Empire State.

Myers said he did not have a favorite among the remaining Republicans-McCain, Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, and would not endorse one before Maryland's Feb. 12 primary.

He said he liked various aspects of the candidates' platforms, including McCain's pledge to cut spending, and Romney's "business sense."

Reiterating his dissatisfaction with the Giuliani campaign, Myers pointed to McCain's frontrunner status after being left for dead last summer, and to Paul's second-place finish in the Nevada caucus. Paul had very little name recognition coming into the campaign, but strong financial backing from young supporters over the internet helped his effort.

Myers said the Giuliani campaign "tried to prove hard work doesn't matter."

"Well, it does," he concluded.