'America's mayor' praises Bush in state GOP speech

[Kadie]

'America's mayor' praises Bush in state GOP speech
Carla Marinucci, John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writers

Sunday, February 11, 2007


More... (02-11) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, arguing that America is in desperate need of a Ronald Reagan-style optimistic vision, told California Republicans on Saturday that he wants to be a president who will "win the world for a set of ideas ... that I believe come from God."

"We're for freedom, we're for the future, and in order to do that, we need leadership that uplifts us and moves us toward the future," Giuliani told the lunchtime crowd at the state GOP convention, all but formally declaring his candidacy for his party's presidential nomination. "You get to decide who that leader is going to be -- and I wish you'd decide on me."

Asked by reporters afterward when he would make a formal announcement of his 2008 presidential campaign, Giuliani joked, "If you listened to my speech, I may have announced it."

snip...
In his 45-minute address and in remarks to reporters afterward, Giuliani lavished praise on President Bush, insisting Bush will have "a very strong place in history," in part because of his "very brave and very wise" decision to go after al Qaeda in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We are very fortunate to have President Bush," Giuliani told the Republican delegates. "Presidents ... have to make decisions and move the country forward, and that's the kind of president I would like to be."

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/11/MNGI4O2N9S1.DTL