John McCain’s presidential campaign may be struggling, but he’s getting some love on the trail in Iowa. Stumping near Mason City on Monday, Rudy Giuliani praised the Arizona senator, not once but twice, telling his audience that if he weren’t waging his own bid for the White House that he’d be campaigning for McCain. “He’d be my candidate,” Giuliani said, telling voters, among other things, that he agrees with McCain’s position on Iraq. “I admire the man tremendously.”

That’s some serious sweet talk, considering Rudy was out touting his own bid for the White House. In fact, his declaration prompted some surprised looks among audience members, including reporters on the scene. After all, it was less than two months ago that Giuliani and McCain got into a big time fight over immigration reform. Rudy was no fan of a McCain-sponsored bill in the Senate, trashing it during June’s CNN GOP debate as a “typical Washington mess.” That prompted an angry response from McCain, who snittily suggested that Giuliani should read the bill before criticizing it.