NPR's Jaffe falsely claimed "Iowa never played a role in [Giuliani's] strategy"

On the January 4 broadcast of National Public Radio's Morning Edition, correspondent Ina Jaffe noted that Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani "[f]inish[ed] in a distant sixth place" in the January 3 Iowa Republican caucuses. Jaffe added: "Then again, Iowa never played a role in [Giuliani's] strategy." In fact, in a June 6, 2007, article, Reuters quoted Giuliani campaign manager Michael DuHaime saying: "We are 100 percent committed to winning Iowa and I believe we will do so." And in an August 8, 2007, article, the Associated Press reported that Giuliani said: "Our largest staff contingent is now in Iowa. ... We're going to make a big effort in Iowa. We're making a big effort and our strategy was to focus on the caucuses."

More recently, on the December 27 edition of the CBS Evening News, national correspondent Byron Pitts told Giuliani, "Here's something I've heard from people who support you in Iowa and New Hampshire, and this is a quote, 'Why has Rudy Giuliani written off New Hampshire and Iowa?' " Giuliani responded: "We haven't. We've had a proportionate strategy in that we've tried to spend time in all of the states. I see it as a nine-inning game." When Pitts asked: "But don't you have to play the first three?" Giuliani replied, "Sure, we have. We've been in Iowa quite a bit. We've been in New Hampshire even more than Iowa. We think this strategy fit our campaign."

According to National Journal's The Hotline (subscription required), Giuliani maintained 12 paid staff members in two offices in Iowa, in contrast with caucus winner Mike Huckabee's 14 paid staff members in one office and second-place finisher Mitt Romney's 17 staff members in three offices. In addition, the New York Daily News reported that Giuliani made "20 stops" in Iowa. Giuliani visited Iowa on December 29, and DuHaime visited the state on January 3.

From the January 4 broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition:

JAFFE: Finishing in a distant sixth place last night was former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, once seen as the national front-runner. Then again, Iowa never played a role in his strategy, and last night his campaign released a statement saying that they still believe their path to the nomination runs through the many delegate-rich states that don't vote until February 5.

Ina Jaffe, NPR News, Des Moines.

From the December 27 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric:

PITTS: Here's something I've heard from people who support you in Iowa and New Hampshire, and this is a quote, "Why has Rudy Giuliani written off New Hampshire and Iowa?

GIULIANI: We haven't. We've had a proportionate strategy in that we've tried to spend time in all of the states. I see it as a nine-inning game, and in the nine-inning game, you've got to --

PITTS: But don't you have to play the first three?

GIULIANI: Sure, we have. We've been in Iowa quite a bit. We've been in New Hampshire even more than Iowa. We think this strategy fit our campaign.

PITTS: What do you mean by "fit?" Rudy Giuliani doesn't fit in Iowa? Doesn't fit in New Hampshire?

GIULIANI: No, no. "Fit" meaning what resources we had, what was available to us to accomplish, how we thought the election would play out. This seemed to be the strategy that fit this particular election.

From the August 8, 2007, AP article:

Whoever wins the Republican nomination will offer Americans a dramatically different choice from the eventual Democratic nominee, he said.

"I think they are going to have a very big contrast," said Giuliani. "It sounded like the same, usual stuff, the same Democrats promising everything and not explaining the traps they are setting for the American people."

Giuliani's latest trip to Iowa was his most intense to date, covering most regions of the state and emphasizing face-to-face campaigning. It comes only days before a high-profile GOP straw poll in which Giuliani has opted not to compete. He cautioned against interpreting that decision as an indication he won't campaign hard for Iowa's precinct caucuses, which traditionally launch the nominating season.

"It was not, as some played it, a desire to not compete in Iowa," said Giuliani. "In fact, it probably was out of a desire to compete more effectively in Iowa."

Giuliani said he plans to spend more time in Iowa and has already increased his campaign staff in the state.

"Our largest staff contingent is now in Iowa," said Giuliani. "We're going to make a big effort in Iowa. We're making a big effort and our strategy was to focus on the caucuses."

Giuliani said he's cheered by polls that show him competitive in Iowa, though other rivals have spent more time and money in the state.

"I'm very encouraged by the fact that every poll, even the ones where we're not ahead, we're competitive, we're in second place," said Giuliani. "We've been outspent by the other candidates five million to one and we're competitive."

Giuliani will not be in the state during the straw poll in Ames on Saturday, but he said he'll return next week to campaign at the Iowa State Fair.

From the June 6, 2007, Reuters article:

Republican presidential hopefuls Rudolph Giuliani and Sen. John McCain will skip Iowa's August straw poll, but their campaigns insisted on Wednesday they would compete in the state's 2008 nominating contest.

Iowa serves as one of the first key battlegrounds in the presidential campaign, and one state party official suggested the decisions to skip the August 11 Ames, Iowa straw poll were a sign that they may not be doing well there.

The straw poll is a fund-raiser for the state Republican Party but is considered an indicator of candidates' organizational strength. Ticket holders can vote in the poll, and campaigns usually buy and hand out tickets to their supporters.

Giuliani and McCain officials stressed that they would continue to campaign in Iowa, with the former New York mayor's campaign saying it would instead spend the $3 million it would have cost to participate in the poll elsewhere in the state.

"We are 100 percent committed to winning Iowa and I believe we will do so," Giuliani campaign manager Michael DuHaime told reporters. "People will say this is an unconventional way to do it, but so be it."

McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson announced the Arizona senator's withdrawal hours after Giuliani's decision, saying it would no longer be a "meaningful test of the leading candidates' organizational abilities."