Marc Ambinder at the Hotline spoke with the Giuliani campaign. It appears that they are already changing their strategy:
Political aides to ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) will reorganize his presidential exploratory efforts over the next two weeks, expanding his national finance team and adding staff in early primary states to try to transform the New York-centric operation into a credible national campaign.
The problem is that no one believes that Giuliani is really running. So donors and staff aren’t signing up:
Giuliani backers have run into resistance among major fundraisers and with activists in early primary states because these activists are not convinced that Giuliani actually intends to run, his aides said. In Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Giuliani lags behind Sen. John McCain and Ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney in recruiting staff.
And so there’s a shakeup of a sort:
“A revamping and a ramping up of the finance operation is occurring and will continue to unfold in the days and weeks to come,” a Giuliani insider said.
I have pointed out for a while that Giuliani is hiring communications staff and not field staff, the recent hire of IA GOP Gov. candidate Jim Nussle, notwithstanding.
Is hiring more fundraisers going to convince people he is serious? Or is Frank Keating right that the train has already left the station?
