In the modern age of the GOP – which originated with Newt Gingrich’s historic 1994 midterm grab of the House of Representatives – moderate Republicans tend to travel an unusual road during presidential primary season, particularly in relation to the Iowa caucus. Four years ago, early Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani took trumped-up media warnings about his caucus viability to heart. Sensing that an East Coast pro-choicer could never win in corn country, he bypassed Iowa altogether. On the advice of his campaign manager Mike DuHaime, he also skipped New Hampshire and South Carolina and focused his full campaign efforts on Florida. But by the time Florida – with all of its pro-Rudy retired New Yorkers – rolled around, Giuliani already had three losses to his name and the media had made him an afterthought. He finished third in the Sunshine State and dropped out before Super Tuesday, later admitting his strategy to be a colossal mistake.
