One and Done

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was gambling that he would get a strong showing in the Florida primary that would propel him to an even greater showing in next week's "Tsunami Tuesday" primaries and caucuses and, ultimately, to the Republican nomination.

But the numbers told a different story. The gamble didn't pay off.

Following Giuliani's distant third-place finish in Florida, the word is out that he will withdraw from the race today and endorse John McCain, the winner of the Florida primary.

"I'm proud I ran a positive campaign," he told his supporters in Florida Tuesday night. "I ran a campaign that was uplifting."

He also ran a campaign that was about one issue -- terrorism.

Certainly, there are voters whose only concern is terrorism/national security. And there's no disputing the importance of fighting terrorism and making sure the nation is secure.

But what Giuliani apparently never realized was that a presidential candidate cannot be, essentially, a one-trick pony and appeal to enough voters to be successful. There are too many other issues that voters care about.

It's fine to be concerned about fighting terrorism. And, given Giuliani's experience as the mayor of New York City during the September 11 terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center, it's understandable that his top priority would be fighting terrorism.

But what was his answer to the millions of Americans without health insurance? And what was his answer to escalating energy costs, which led to escalating food costs?

It's for the best that Giuliani appears to be on the verge of dropping out of the presidential race, even though the New York media, especially the New York Post, appears to be mourning the end of his candidacy.

"The dream New York match -- Rudy vs. Hillary -- is not to be," writes the Post. "And that's too bad."

Of course, it remains to be seen if Hillary will keep her date with destiny.

And now, let's listen to tonight's Republican debate and find out what the remaining candidates propose to do about the many issues that face this country.

The Democrats will hold their final pre-"Tsunami Tuesday" debate tomorrow night.