Giuliani fears ex-wife will hit presidential bid

London Times ^ | 1/7/07 | London Times

[wagglebee]

THERE is one woman who could cause Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, more problems than Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House: she is Donna Hanover, his second wife, writes Sarah Baxter.

Hanover, an actress and broadcaster, was enraged by Giuliani’s flagrant infidelity towards the end of their 18-year marriage and the divorce case was vicious. Giuliani’s advisers fear that she could be a loose cannon in the 2008 campaign.

Giuliani was acclaimed as the “mayor of America” for his heroic role during the attacks on September 11, 2001 and is revered for his leadership. At the time he was living in the spare room of an apartment belonging to gay friends after Hanover forced him out of Gracie Mansion, the official residence.

Hanover refused to confirm that she would vote for Giuliani as mayor of New York even when she was married to him. “What kind of wife is that?” Raoul Felder, Giuliani’s lawyer, fumed. “She’s essentially saying she’s not going to vote for him.”

Hanover once stood outside a shower at Gracie Mansion, expecting to confront Judith Nathan, Giuliani’s mistress, now his third wife. In the event, a startled golfing friend of Giuliani’s emerged.

Hanover was also accused of a lack of sympathy while the former mayor was battling prostate cancer, by banishing him to a spare bedroom and exercising noisily on a treadmill at 5am.

New Yorkers relished the details of Giuliani’s larger-than-life personal story. But conservative “values voters” could be different, as Giuliani’s own aides noted in a 140-page memo leaked last week by supporters of a rival candidate.

The campaign dossier suggested that Hanover could be one of several potentially “insurmountable” vulnerabilities that could cause him to drop out of the race. It was an embarrassing start to a campaign that is not yet officially under way.

Giuliani’s record in fighting crime and terrorism has placed him at the top of several polls for the 2008 Republican nomination, edging out Senator John McCain in popular support. But the party base may be turned off by his support for abortion, immigration, gun control and gay rights (although not gay marriage). It is their votes that he needs to secure the nomination.

“It would be one thing if Giuliani could say, ‘I’m a strong social conservative in my private life’, but he can’t even say that,” said Ramesh Ponnuru, a conservative commentator and author of The Party of Death, an attack on social liberalism. “It’s not just the fact of his multiple marriages, it is the way the Hanover marriage melted down. It was operatic.”

When Giuliani met Hanover on a blind date in the early 1980s, his first marriage to Regina, his second cousin, was already over. Hanover, who went on to appear in the television series Ally McBeal, was a glamorous soulmate who seemed to enjoy the spotlight as much as he did.

They had two children, Andrew, 21, and Caroline, 17, but in 1996 Hanover stopped calling herself by his last name and a year later Vanity Fair magazine said that he was having an “intimate relationship” with a senior member of his staff.

In 2000, without telling Hanover first, Giuliani announced at a press conference that he was separating from her. She retaliated by accusing him of being unfaithful with the employee, but he was already with Nathan.

Maggie Gallagher, a family values campaigner, was outraged by Giuliani’s “scummy” performance, accusing him of making Bill Clinton “look good as a husband and father”.

New Yorkers learnt during the divorce case that their cancer- afflicted mayor was temporarily impotent and Hanover demanded a huge settlement, including £760 a month to care for Goalie, the family’s golden retriever.

Felder struck back, accusing Hanover of being an “uncaring mother” who was “howling like a stuck pig”.

In the end Giuliani, who was beginning to earn big consultancy fees after September 11, agreed to a settlement of $6.8m to avoid the full horror of a court case.

Hanover has married Ed Oster, her university sweetheart, and written a book, My Boyfriend’s Back, about rekindling an old romance. Even if she stays mum, there is enough in the public domain to rattle conservatives. Yet however vicious the personal attacks on Giuliani, they are unlikely to dent his reputation for competence. He did, after all, handle the September 11 attacks while bunking with gay friends in the midst of an affair and a divorce battle.

[HawaiianGecko]

_hg

Who are they kidding?  Infidelity with Jennifer Flowers and the Today Show got Bill Clinton elected and infidelity with Monica Lewinski took his poll numbers from the low 40's to the mid 60's during Ken Star's investigation.

All he has to do is go on the Today Show, say he's truly sorry for youthful indiscretions, and claim "I didn't do anything different than Bill." except "I eradicated the mob while Bill ejaculated a glob." Heck, that even sounds like a good sound bite and bumper sticker.

[BW2221]

"nasty smear piece"

If it's a "nasty smear piece," why don't you set the record straight? What in this "nasty smear piece" is incorrect?

[Clara Lou]

Let me in on what's wrong or illegal or unseemly about marrying a 2nd cousin. I've forgotten.

[mad puppy]

If she has moved on from her divorce and is at all happy with her current life and husband, then she won't say a thing.

If she is unhappy, or still holding on to the bitterness, well, sorry Mr. Mayor, but you won't be in this one long. Your only chance would be to make her out to be a hateful shrew and frankly, doing that to the mother of you kids will not win you many votes.

[SuziQ]

It must really frost Donna Hanover to know that she will forever be known mainly as Mayor Guiliani's ex-wife!

[UWconservative]

They never have, but I'm sure the MSM's interest is captured with this.

[Afronaut]

If I were him, I would be worried about his 2nd Cousin that he married. Somehow this would a bit more shocking than anything Hanover could say.

[mewzilla]

Rudy Giuliani in Drag Smooching Donald Trump

[FreeInWV]

"And those who do can look at recent history and see that treating women like trash and lying about it can be a non-issue as a POTUS."

Reading that makes me think of Bill Clinton. We don't need another Bill Clinton.

Besides all of these social issues, Rudy has a serious ration of disrespect for the Bill of Rights. That alone is enough to disqualify him in my eyes.

[wagglebee]

I don't understand the Guiliani love fest here on FR.

I don't either. He did a great job of keeping up the spirits in NYC after 9/11, but I'm not sure how difficult that actually was (immediately after a disaster, people's natural response is to unify, but it usually doesn't last and it didn't in NYC).

Guiliani is strong on defense, but on every other issue he is a liberal.

[BW2221]

Rudy seems to like being around liberals.

Regardless of what you think of the "liberal b@tch from Hell," announcing the divorce via a press conference is pretty classless.

[UWconservative]

I would never marry one of my second cousins. It means our great grandparents were the same. That level of incest is, imo inappropriate.

[EGPWS]

They never have, but I'm sure the MSM's interest is captured with this.

What? A little box with a red x inside of it?

The MSM needs to reevaluate their focus on pertinent issues. ; )

[SamAdams76]

A man who cheats on his wife is a dirtbag. If you must cheat, divorce her first. Not saying I won't vote for Guiliani if he gets nominated but I really hope the GOP comes up with somebody with better character.

[BW2221]

It's simple. MSM loves Rudy because they know it's the best they can hope for. Imagine a race between Rudy and Hillary or Obama. There's no way liberals can lose ... or conservatives can win.

[FastCoyote]

Giulani is damaged goods, McQueeg scary, and Romney has liberal question marks (and the Mormonism thing IS a big deal). It's darkhorse time. Haley Barbour, Duncan Hunter, and a couple of others are seeming better all the time.

[FreeInWV]

And it only took him 14 years to decide that incest was wrong.

[freespirited]

What kind of husband cheats on his wife frequently over 18 years?

I believe our supposed has-it-in-the-bag nominee, Mr. McManiac, did the same thing. Only his wife was no longer a glamorous actress at the time. A former model, she had been badly injured in a car wreck (three broken limbs), had lost four inches of height, and was crippled. McCain ultimately dumped her for a new trophy.

[UWconservative]

Dammit, it was showing up for me. ;_;

Oh well, I assume everyone's seen Rudy in drag. ;p

[VictoryGal]

>>Is it too much to ask a presidential candidate to be competent AND morally sound?

> Apparently so for one of the greatest President's of modern day is in the 30% range in real time.

I don't understand... do you mean Reagan because he was divorced? Being divorced is not great, but not terrible-- we're talking here about rampant infidelity and announcing a split in a press conference.