Maybe he realizes that he still has to win the nomination first.

In a big strategic shift, Rudy Giuliani hammered Mitt Romney’s record Sunday on three fronts, saying it was time to “take the mask off and take a look at what kind of governor was he.”

Using some of the toughest language of his campaign, Giuliani, in an interview with Politico, slammed Romney on health care, crime and taxes. At the same time he portrayed the one-time moderate as a hypocrite on a host of social issues who lives “in a glass house.” It was easily the most sweeping attack Giuliani has delivered against Romney in this campaign.

“He throws stones at people,” Giuliani said in an interview on his campaign bus. “And then on that issue he usually has a worse record than whoever he’s throwing stones at.”

The Romney camp responded by calling Giuliani's attack "nasty" and offering a point-by-point rebuttal.

Judging by Giuliani's rhetoric, he has appeared for weeks to be running more against New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, than any of his Republican foes. But as his poll numbers have dipped in this critical state, the former New York mayor has stepped up his campaign schedule and TV presence and also begun to take dead aim at Romney, whom polls show as the GOP front-runner here.

“I think there’s a difference between a guy who gets results, real results, that were applauded nationwide and somebody who had a mixed record at best as governor,” Giuliani said.

Rudy is lucky in one regard -- there is no way that Mitt Romney could be his running mate due to the geographical proximity of their home states. In a Giuliani Administration, Mitt Romney would have to be content with a cabinet position (Treasury, Commerce), while Rudy would have to do the same in a Romney Administration (Attorney General, Homeland Security). That let's him be a bit more free with his rhetoric.

Unfortunately, with that freedom comes the need to take care to not damage Mitt Romney too badly. After all, he could still be the nominee, and too savage an attack could leave Romney damaged goods in the general election. This is the same dilemma that the other GOP candidates face with Rudy, who has been the front runner -- how to score points without damaging Giuliani too severely in the general election

Posted by: Greg at 10:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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