Rudy Giuliani campaign pleas for money as coffers are drying up in Florida

DAVID SALTONSTALL

DAILY NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT

Sunday, January 13th 2008

BRADENTON, Fla. - While Team Rudy has vehemently denied that its decision to withhold paychecks from top staffers was a sign of financial desperation, the campaign - citing the new pay cuts - fired off an anxious plea for more donor cash Saturday.

"I know I have asked you many times to help Rudy over the past year, but I am asking you to dig a little deeper," Giuliani campaign manager Michael DuHaime wrote in a fund-raising e-mail obtained by the Daily News. "Everyone on the campaign is doing all we can to conserve resources to help Rudy get elected. Many staffers, including me, have volunteered to give up our paychecks this month, and we are running a very lean operation in order to devote everything we can to elect Rudy the next President."

"Will you help us one more time?" DuHaime pleaded.

The slightly frantic tone of the solicitation is in stark contrast to the calm assurances Giuliani and others tried to present Friday when asked about the pay cuts, which staffers insisted are voluntary and intended to give Giuliani an extra pot of money in the homestretch.

Aides have said that Giuliani had $7 million in the bank at the end of December - likely more than GOP rivals John McCain and Mike Huckabee - but the former mayor is also known to be spending at a fast clip here in Florida. Sources said Giuliani booked at least $700,000 in ads last week alone in Florida, and was on the air in the first week of January as well, suggesting that a good portion of that $7 million may already be gone. ... ( read more )

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