Giuliani Trails in NY, Huckabee's Running Out of Money and Thompson Drops Out

How's that all-Florida-all-the-time stealth strategy working out for you Rudy? At this rate we're going to be talking about the serial adulterer as a fringe candidate. (AFP):

Giuliani, who in campaigning has played up his record steering the city in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, is trailing 12 percent behind Senator John McCain, a Vietnam war veteran, said the Siena Research Institute.

On Giuliani's home turf, McCain has turned round a previous 33-point deficit,, surging to a 12-point lead in support for New York state's Republican primary on February 5, said the survey, which has a 7.4 point margin of error.

McCain has 36 percent support among Republicans state-wide to 24 for Giuliani. Giuliani led McCain 48 to 15 percent on December 10. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is now third on 10 percent, Siena said.

With these scathing stories about his reign of terror as mayor in the NYT, In Matters Big and Small, Crossing Giuliani Had Price, you have to wonder if he'll ever emerge from the cellar-dwelling status in the polls.

Mr. Giuliani was a pugilist in a city of political brawlers. But far more than his predecessors, historians and politicians say, his toughness edged toward ruthlessnessand became a defining aspect of his mayoralty. One result: New York City spent at least $7 million in settling civil rights lawsuits and paying retaliatory damages during the Giuliani years.