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Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign began after the establishment of a draft movement in...

Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign began after the establishment of a draft movement in October 2005. In November of the following year, Giuliani formed an exploratory committee and formally announced that he was actively running for the presidency in February 2007. As the 2008 Republican presidential nomination field first formed, Senator John McCain was viewed as the front-runner. However, Giuliani held a lead in the nationwide polls by January 2007. McCain's candidacy faltered, and throughout 2007, Giuliani maintained his lead in both national polls and fundraising. Political observers predicted that Giuliani's position would fall, either due to Republican base voters discovering his liberal positions on certain social issues, his personality, management style or the entrance of former Senator Fred Thompson into the race. Giuliani did not campaign actively in the early voting states, hoping to simply survive in these states, and focused instead on the later, larger states. He campaigned in Florida throughout the primary season, hoping a win in the state's primary on January 29, 2008, would give him enough momentum to win the large primaries on Super Duper Tuesday