http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=237002004US PRESIDENT George Bush is ready to pull off the biggest shock of this year’s election campaign by naming Rudy Giuliani as his running mate at the Republican convention in Manhattan in September.
Giuliani remains the most popular politician in the US and speculation is mounting that Bush will announce the former New York mayor as his vice presidential candidate as the country marks the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The Republican party has already carried out canvassing of voters to assess how much support Giuliani has across the country and, according to reports, received high levels of public support.
The public has not forgotten Giuliani’s stoic leadership in the dark days after 9/11, when his words and actions became a beacon for the American people.
Analysts believe Bush, who lags behind Democratic frontrunner Senator John Kerry in opinion polls, would benefit from tapping into Giuliani’s popularity.
Dozens of polls since 2001 have shown Giuliani to be the most popular politician in the US, even though he has not held public office since Michael Bloomberg took over the post of mayor of New York in 2002.
Leading commentator Al Neuharth, the man who created USA Today, said Bush would do what his father did not - namely dump his vice president, currently Dick Cheney.
Neuharth said the ideal time for the announcement would be at the Republican convention in September, commemorating 9/11 at Ground Zero.
Bringing Giuliani on board would be a massive boost for Bush, who is lining up to run as a ‘war President’, concentrating on the war on terror rather than the war in Iraq.