Giuliani Rallies for Romney in Boston

Hundreds of W. Mitt Romney’s supporters braved the rain to catch a glimpse of their candidate last night—and the fellow Republican who was joining him on the night before the election, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

The crowd gathered on a street corner in the North End and waited for the two to appear as a band played marches in the background. When Romney and Giuliani arrived, the gathering moved a couple blocks down the road to an Italian restaurant. Romney and Giuliani made their way shielded by umbrellas and police officers, as the crowd chanted “let’s go Mitt” and “here we go Mitt.”

About a hundred people managed to crowd into Fiore’s, the restaurant where Giuliani would address them.

Many more were forced to wait outside and, though the crowd thinned out, several determined supporters banged on the restaurant’s windows as the speeches went on inside.

Inside the restaurant, Republican lieutenant governor candidate Kerry M. Healey ’82 told the crowd that Romney would be “the true agent of change in this state.”

Romney said a few words to his supporters and encouraged them to keep pushing for votes until the election, saying that the “critical moment” was “only hours away.”

Romney then introduced Giuliani, calling him “a man who has helped heal the nation.”

Amidst chants of “Rudy, Rudy,” Giuliani took the podium.

“You take this enthusiasm and you put it to work tomorrow and you’re going to have a great governor,” he said.

He praised Romney’s role in organizing the 2002 Winter Olympics and said he had “saved” the Games twice—not only with his financial bailout of the Salt Lake City organization but also with his handling of post-Sept. 11 terrorist threats.

When a drunken man with an Italian accent began loudly cheering Romney’s success, Giuliani drew laughs from the crowd by saying, “you sound like one of my uncles.” The man was then subdued by an event organizer.

Giuliani went on to say that the election is not about party affiliation.

“Ultimately, it comes down to who’s going to be the better leader,” he said.

The rest of Giuliani’s talk aimed to increase voter turnout for tomorrow’s election, where polls have found Romney in a dead-heat with Democratic opponent Shannon P. O’Brien.

“I think this is going to be won by the team that works the hardest,” he said.

He urged citizens to vote today, saying that one of the terrorists’ targets in the Sept. 11 attacks had been democracy and the right to vote.

After the speeches, Romney and Giuliani posed for pictures with Romney’s relatives.

“This family is like its own campaign organization,” Guiliani said, again to a loud response from the crowd.

Giuliani then joined Romney for dinner at the restaurant.