Rudy to drop out; will endorse Captain Queeg

And to all of e-mailers who are supporting McCain, no I will not drop the moniker of "Captain Queeg." It's my nickname for him, so quit asking me to stop using it. I dislike the man because of what he's done over the last eight years.

But my guy, Rudy Giuliani, will drop out of the race today:

Rudy Giuliani told supporters Wednesday he's abandoning his bid for president and backing Republican rival and longtime friend John McCain.

"I spoke with Rudy Giuliani this morning and he confirmed that he is dropping out of the race and will endorse Senator John McCain for president," New York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno said in a statement.

Once the Republican presidential front-runner, Giuliani suffered a debilitating defeat in Tuesday's Florida primary.

The former mayor finished a distant third to the winner, McCain, and close second-place finisher Mitt Romney. After the results, Republican officials had said Giuliani would endorse McCain on Wednesday in California.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the public announcement.

Speaking to supporters Tuesday night, Giuliani stopped short of announcing he was stepping down, but delivered a valedictory speech that was more farewell than fight-on.

"I'm proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin," Giuliani said as supporters with tight smiles crowded behind him. "You don't always win, but you can always try to do it right, and you did."

I really wish that Rudy would stay in it. By leaving now, he's tossing aside Super Duper Tuesday, where I think he could still pick up a number of states. Romney's staying in it. He's looking ahead. He knows he's facing an uphill battle against McCain, and these two are going to toss barbs back and forth at one another up through SDT.

The irritating part of Rudy's departure is that he's endorsing McCain, but if people didn't see that coming, then they haven't been paying attention. After all, who praised McCain in nearly every GOP debate? That's right, Rudy did.

So what do Rudy supporters do? Where do they go? I can assure readers that we're not jumping on the McCain bandwagon. We'll both be voting for Romney on 5 February here in Arizona. (Yes Marcie was gloating last night when word first came down from Marc Halperin last night; gloating because she's been right since October last year when Rudy started his stumble.)

Rudy voters should move to the best camp, which is Mitt, not McCain. Mitt is a conservative, unlike McCain, who continues to boast of conservative credentials he doesn't possess. He can talk about how he's learned his lesson on immigration, but we don't think he has. He can say he's a fiscal hawk, but given the climate change bill, and the attempted immigration bill, the idea of being fiscally responsible is preposterous. (Explain, please, Senator McCain the gas taxes involved in the climate change bill. Explain that to people who are already paying almost three dollars for a gallon of gas.)

With any luck, Mitt will pound him on SDT, and we can watch McCain go through a meltdown. If not, and he does become the nominee (thereby confirming the Biblical miracle), we will support him by voting for him. It'll hurt, but we're not going to waste our vote on a third-party candidate. We're not voting for a Democrat. And we're not taking our bat and ball, and sitting at home in a snit. This election is too important. If McCain goes on to be the nominee, and he is elected, the alternative media is going to have a busy four years keeping an eye on him, and keeping him in check.

Publius II