RealTime: Giuliani Tanks in Florida

"Rudy didn't even care enough about conservatives to lie to us." You lie to show you care?

Yesterday, I wondered whether Rudy Giuliani would able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the Florida primary, redeeming himself and his curious campaign strategy — in which he claimed he hadn't bothered to campaign and didn't expect to win in states with early primaries. You heard it already: he didn't. Coming in a distant third with 15% of the popular vote, Giuliani finished far behind rivals Sen. John McCain (who finished with 36%) and Mitt Romney (31%). And though Giuliani didn't withdraw from the race in his concession speech, the buzz predicts that today, he will endorse McCain.

Did Giuliani's insufficiently shameless pandering on abortion and gay rights do him in? In the New York Times, Republican consultant Nelson Warfield stated, "It bordered on science fiction to think that someone as liberal on as many issues as Rudy Giuliani could become the Republican nominee…Rudy didn't even care enough about conservatives to lie to us. The problem wasn't the calendar; it was the candidate."

Care enough to lie? Do you lie to show you care? Perhaps — just on this one issue — he cared enough about the Party and its future to tell the truth.