Cancer-fighting Giuliani keeps campaign schedule
April 29, 2000
Web posted at: 4:02 a.m. EDT (0802 GMT)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (CNN) -- A day after announcing he
has prostate cancer, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
resumed his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Friday night,
telling more than 1,000 Republican supporters he hopes to run
and "give you the candidate you deserve."
The mayor was the keynote speaker at the annual $50-a-plate
Women's Republican Club dinner in GOP-heavy Saratoga County.
He had been invited to attend long before he disclosed
Thursday that he is suffering from prostate cancer -- the
same disease that took his father's life at age 73.
Giuliani, 55, told the audience he was still absorbing the
medical news.
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After announcing Thursday that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he expects "a complete cure."
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"I'm still in the process of trying to figure out the best
thing to do with it to make sure I have a complete cure,"
Giuliani said.
He said that he would take a couple of weeks to talk with his
doctors about the best course of treatment.
Mayor spoke for 30 minutes
Giuliani was warmly received, with the crowd erupting into
cheers of "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy" when he entered the hall.
Giuliani's appearance was covered by a larger than usual
press contingent, including many reporters from New York
City. "They're here to see if I could make it from my chair
to here," he quipped upon taking the podium.
State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno introduced Giuliani to
the audience, saying, "When people ask who will be our next
U.S. senator, you tell them it will be Rudy Giuliani."
"There is no second choice," Bruno said.
Giuliani spoke for 30 minutes, running through highlights of
his six years as mayor -- reducing crime, trimming welfare
and creating jobs.
"You need a senator who is going to sit down and make the
federal government responsive," he said. "Doesn't it make
sense to have a senator who has actually had experience doing
that for years and years and years."
Though he did not mention his Democratic rival, first lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton, by name, he did take a swipe at his
opponent -- "I'm offended by the lack of authenticity on the
other side, and that's the nicest way I can put it."
Campaign appearance in Buffalo on Saturday
Giuliani is to make a campaign appearance in Buffalo on
Saturday with a noon appearance before New York's
Independence Party, the state chapter of the Reform Party. In
a rare occurrence, Mrs.Clinton will speak to the same group
later in the day.
Earlier Friday, Giuliani said additional tests conducted
after he announced he has prostate cancer show the cancer has
not spread.
"The bad news that I got the other day is that I have cancer
of the prostate. The good news is that it hasn't spread
anywhere," the mayor told a news conference.
"I'm quite confident that it's confined to one part of the
body. And that the treatments that exist can create a
complete cure."
Giuliani is completing his final term as mayor and has
all but announced as a candidate for the Republican
nomination for the state's open U.S. Senate seat -- a
campaign he plans to curtail somewhat until he decides on a
treatment for his medical condition.
Giuliani's Senate campaign staff said all signs are pointing
toward staying in the race against Clinton.
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