Rudy Giuliani likes to campaign for the presidency as "America's mayor," but lately it's more like he's starring in a cell-phone commercial describing his favorite place called "New Yaliforniflorivania." And it's backfiring.

Giuliani, perhaps inspired by the 2000 election in which a candidate that garnered the popular vote victory in winning only 21 states, albeit typically the more populous of the 51. (Wait a minute...) Giuliani has essentially eschewed the Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina races altogether, marshaling his campaign forces for Florida and California.

But the man from New Yalifornifrolivania is now employing a faulty strategy devised when the Republican Party had no clear challenge to Giuliani's household name status. Today, however, the GOP has Mitt Romney and surprising John McCain becoming evermore popularly perceived of as "electable," while Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has gotten sufficient attention for his guy-pal Chuck Norris. And today, pundits are using vocabulary like "plummeting" and "dismal" and even "bye-bye" to describe the status of Giuliani's campaign vis-à-vis his showing in Florida and California polls.

In Florida, which votes Tuesday, the St. Petersburg Times had McCain at 25 percent and Romney at 23, while Giuliani and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee limped behind with 15 percent apiece. Yesterday came the release of a California field poll. The results there? McCain at 23 percent, Romney at 21, Giuliani 13 and Huckabee 12. To think that just one month ago, Giuliani's lead in the big state was "comfortable."

At present, many Giuliani workers are going without pay as the mayor tools around the Sunshine State proclaiming he'll "jump start" the American economy. He should probably start with his campaign.