SARASOTA, Fla. -- As he makes his final 72-hour push ahead of Florida's Tuesday primary, Rudy Giuliani is embracing his underdog status, asking voters to ignore the "experts" and the latest polls showing a slide in the Sunshine State.

The former New York mayor, once the unquestioned national frontrunner, has in polls slipped to third in Florida, a state he's banking on to revive his campaign after bypassing the high-profile contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

"Don't listen to any of the cynics. Don't listen to any of the experts. You're the experts. The person who goes to the polling place and marks down the ballot, marks down the vote. That's the expert," Giuliani told about 200 people at a meet and greet at the Columbia Restaurant in Sarasota. "I like feeling like I am an underdog. I think underdogs get a lot of sympathy, get a lot of support, get a lot of interest."

In recent days, his campaign surrogates have also been railing against the media and pundits for their "pessimism." Prior to Giuliani's speech at Sarasota's Lincoln Day Dinner Friday night, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and former Congressman Bill Paxon urged the more than 500 in attendance to ignore the latest polling.

The Giuliani campaign's war on polls is a recent development, especially after months of citing national and state surveys as evidence of his support. During interviews over the last couple months, Giuliani often cited his polling leads in most Feb. 5 states when questioned about ignoring the early primary states.

The same is true for his aides.

In an Oct. 2 memo that broke down all of Giuliani's polling advantages, campaign strategist Brent Seaborn led off by noting that "Mayor Giuliani continues to lead all major media polls."

He also touted, "as this race enters the home stretch, Mayor Giuliani continues lead every national poll while no single opponent has emerged to threaten his frontrunner status."

While Seaborn later warned of "tightening," Giuliani now trails in almost all of the delegate-rich Feb. 5 states the campaign was courting.

Click to read more about Giuliani and watch him rally supporters in Florida.

FOX News' Mosheh Oinounou contributed to this report.