BE WATCHING FOR THE ANGEL OF DEATH TONIGHT

I can't remember the name of the CBS show. It always revolved around the Angel of Death showing up and taking someone to "the other side".

Tonight, in Florida, the Angel is likely to take Rudy to a different side. Rudy is going to Giuliani Partners. Notice I didn't say "back" to Giuliani Partners. That's because the GP to which he returns will not be the cash machine it once was. It's much more expensive to do business with a future president than a former mayor who looks like Janos Skorzeny minus a couple pints of O negative. The customer list will be smaller and the rates will be lower.

Ya see, Florida was Rudy's firewall state. It was a good plan. Don't play in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan, then hit 'em with a socko-boffo win in Fla. Very fine plan.

But Rudy didn't have the resolve to stick to his own plan. Instead, he played "a little" in those places. He stuck his toe in. And he got blasted everywhere he was a dilletante candidate. That ruptured confidence among his Florida Peeps and his relocated New Yorkers in the sunshine state. Soon he was reeling. Every answer to every question had (credit to Joe Biden) three basic elements "A subject, a verb and 9/11". His very reasonable explanations for the way he handled illegals in NYC began to sound like sembling. He backtracked on his gay-tolerance and his abortion stance. He was the same empty suit as Romney, only without the moral standards. Kerik hurt a little, not much. And that all might have been OK, still, simply because Romney disagrees like a sissy and Giuliani can argue like the trial lawyer he once was.

But nobody allowed for the Crazy Uncle with a Head of Steam. McCain took the security vote, the Thompson vote, the Veteran vote and, by accident, even the Cubano vote. The Mormon with One Wife Took the arbitrager/fortune 500 wannabe and his share of the Blue Hair vote. The firewall was now fully engulfed in flames. He has to get out before he loses New York to the Crazy Uncle or the Empty Suit.

I don't know whether the Crazy Uncle or the Empty Suit wins tonight. For Rudy, it doesn't matter. He could have made his plan work. He either believed in it or he didn't. His dabbling behavior in Iowa, NH and Michigan shows that he didn't.

You will hear two stories tonight in the press about Rudy: One, the polling data he used to devise his strategy was bad (no, it was just based on polls taken before anyone started casting votes, always a dicey proposition); or, two, Rudy was a worse candidate than anticipated (no, he might have been better suited for NYC than the Panhandle, but he was a known, not bad commodity as a campaigner.). Rudy forgot an old maxim "Plan your work. Work your plan." As time went on, Rudy wandered away from his plan.

This is a very good night for a New York Mayor......but his name is not Rudy Giuliani. Bloomberg/Hagel will not be far behind this self-emolation.