PresseKat - New Yorks Ex-Bürgermeister Giuliani: „Wir gewinnen in Florida!“

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CNN International/Larry King Live

Die Republikaner werden bei den Vorwahlen in Florida gewinnen. Diese Ansicht hat der ehemalige Bürgermeister von New York, Rudy Giuliani, in der CNN Sendung „Larry King Live“ vertreten. In Florida finden am 29. Januar 2008 die Vorwahlen zur US-Präsidentschaft statt. Im Sonnenstaat will sich Giuliani als Kandidat für das höchste Amt in den USA in Position bringen.

Bei Larry King sagte Giuliani in der Nacht vom 23. auf den 24. Januar 2008: „Florida ist ein sehr wichtiger Staat für mich, den wir gewinnen müssen.“ Sein Gegner, John McCain, sei nur ein Senator unter Hunderten. Giuliani: „Ich bin ein Optimist. Ich beabsichtige nicht, zu verlieren. Ich glaube an den Sieg. Wir glauben an den Sieg in Florida. Und wir werden gewinnen in Florida.“

Wir veröffentlichen nachstehend das Interview im Original-Wortlaut. Es kann honorarfrei verwendet werden bei Angabe der Quelle CNN International/Larry King Live. Honorarfreie Fotos stehen auf Anforderung zur Verfügung.

LARRY KING, HOST: We begin tonight with Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, in the hunt for the GOP presidential nomination.

Is Florida still, to use your own campaign term, Rudy, a firewall state for you?

RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a real important state for me. I have never used the word "firewall". I guess some people do. But I sure see it as a very important state, one that we have to win.

KING: Are you surprised, at least, that the polls say you are trailing?

GIULIANI: No, no. I'm not surprised at all that the polls are very close. The polls that we see when you average them out are all within the margin of error. We think they are all going to break over the weekend.

We are working very, very hard to get our message out of major tax reduction as a way of stimulating the economy, the national catastrophic fund to help people in Florida be able to afford property insurance, because they are suffering so much with the inability to get it in some cases.

So I think we are cracking through. But you know, we will see, we will see over the weekend. We are working real hard at it.

KING: You have spent so much time there - devoted so much energy to it, why is the race so close?

GIULIANI: Well, I mean, there are a lot of other strong candidates that have put even more money in than we have. I mean, you know how money affects the race. And in some cases, we have put in money. Other candidates have, but we have been outspent. And there is all the momentum that comes from some of the early primaries that you have to deal with.

But I think our consistent message here in Florida on issues that are - that they are concerned about, issues like tax reduction, tax simplification, dealing with this whole catastrophic fund so that they have an ability to be able to get property insurance, talking about closing the gap at the space center so that we are not out of the space business for four or five years.

I think we are keyed in more to the issues here in Florida. You know, my two opponents don't support the catastrophic fund. Both of my opponents have not been the kind of tax-cutter that I have been.

They - one of them voted against the Bush tax cuts and the other one didn't support the Bush tax cuts. These are points that we keep making and I think we keep building as a result of that.

KING: You are referring to McCain and Romney. John McCain and you were very tight at one time. Is that still - are you still close friends?

GIULIANI: Yes, absolutely. You can have a disagreement about…

(CROSSTALK)

KING: I remember how close you were.

GIULIANI: You can have a disagreement about taxes and be very close. He disagreed with some of the things that I do. I disagree with some of things that he does. I have tremendous respect for John McCain. And that has remained throughout this campaign and it is going to remain when this campaign is over.

KING: In all of our discussions over the years, both off the air and on, you have always been very analytical and very on the mark. What has surprised you the most so far?

GIULIANI: Well, you know, Larry, I don't know yet. Maybe you ask me that question after we get through this primary process and I will tell you. The length of this process is surprising. You know, we have been doing this now for over a year.

I think back to last year and getting ready for the president's State of the Union message last year, getting ready for the message on the surge, and we were out there campaigning. And the length of this process is tremendous.

And for whichever ones of us go on, and I hope it is me, and Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, we will be doing this for almost another year. So this is truly a marathon. And you have got to remain focused on it that way and not get too upset about the things that go wrong or too excited about the things that go right.

KING: John McCain has a new TV ad, says: "There is no one more qualified to meet our national security threats. I have been dealing with these issues my entire adult life." Do you think you are more qualified in national security than John McCain?

GIULIANI: I do. I do, Larry, because of my executive experience. I think John is a great man and I have tremendous respect for him, but after all, as a senator, John is one of 100. What he does is he gets to vote. He gets to get briefed. He gets to make speeches, give his advice.

As a mayor and as an associate attorney general, I had to make decisions. I had to make decisions that, you know, determine life or death sometimes. Responsibility for the lives of millions of people.

I mean, I made the decision to throw Arafat out of the U.N. 50 celebration. I made the decision to make sure Castro didn't come to that celebration. I made the decision to return the $10 million check to the Saudi prince who wanted us to criticize American foreign policy.

I have negotiated agreements with foreign governments as the chief government negotiator, agreements over immigration, agreements over prisoner return. I have had to make decisions that had life and death consequences at times.

So I think that qualifies me in the way Americans usually look for a presidential candidate, in other words, as an executive. Most of our presidents, as you know, Larry, have not come from the Senate.

KING: Right.

GIULIANI: They have come from the executive ranks. They have come from governors. And when you look at my background and experience in foreign policy, including all of my time as mayor of New York, even on your show discussing foreign policy, because the mayor does.

And the actual negotiations I have participated in or the decisions that I have made, I have had far more experience in foreign policy than most of the people who have been elected president in the last 50 years.

KING: Is it a little humbling, Rudy, to run for the presidency?

GIULIANI: A little humbling? It is very humbling to run for president of the United States at all different stages. There are times in which you wake up in the morning - and I think I have even said this to you, Larry, you wake up in the morning, you are in Iowa or you are in Illinois or you are in Louisiana or wherever you are, and you are not - you are just kind of waking up and you are trying to figure out what are you doing and where are you, and you say, I'm running for president of the United States of America?

You pinch yourself and you remember back to being in Brooklyn and being this kid from Brooklyn who was trying to figure out how to throw a baseball. It is. It is a very humbling experience. And if you don't feel that, then probably you shouldn't be running.

KING: And can we…

GIULIANI: You have to feel the awesome nature of this job.

KING: Can we say, Rudy, that no matter what happens in Florida, you will go on, that you are going to February 5th?

GIULIANI: Larry, we are going to win in Florida. You know how I think. You have known me a long time. I'm an optimist. I do not contemplate loss. I think about winning. I think about victory. We will be thinking about victory in Florida. And we are going to win in Florida.

I have got a very good feeling about it. Just finished a tremendous rally. We have got a great organization here. We have built it for a long time. Those people who doubt that we can win here, I think, are going to be very surprised.

KING: So you won't even answer no matter what?

GIULIANI: We are not - we are winning Florida. That is my position.

KING: That is the what.

(LAUGHTER)

GIULIANI: And I picked the Giants over the weekend.

KING: You do?

GIULIANI: I did.

KING: Do you pick them in the Super Bowl?

GIULIANI: Of course, I pick the Giants - I pick them all of the time, Larry.

KING: Do you think they could beat New England?

GIULIANI: Sure, I think they could - they gave them a heck of a game, didn't they, when a lot was on the line.

KING: They did, three points they lost by.

GIULIANI: They gave them a heck of a game when a perfect season was on the line. And that was - I was very proud of the Giants. That game was the game that convinced me that maybe they could go the whole way.

KING: Thanks, Rudy, as always…

GIULIANI: It took a lot of guts play New England that tough.

KING: You are not kidding.

GIULIANI: Thank you, Larry. See you soon.

KING: Good luck. Same here.

Honorarfreie Verwendung des vorstehenden Interviews bei Nennung der Quelle CNN International/Larry King Live. Honorarfreie Fotos stehen auf Anforderung zur Verfügung.

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