Posted on 01/07/2007 11:46:24 AM PST by 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.
No, you can pretty well bet that the media will make her their "wounded girl" and will have a field day with Rudy.
Mark
You'd have to document for me that Rudy met her at a family reunion, otherwise I'd have to think that you were making a joke. =)
There is no Obama. Repeat. There is no Obama. He is a media phenomenon. He will not even run. That is all.
Fist cousin marriage is legal in New York. So What?
Guiliani is no social conservative period. Don't want him for president.
that said.
This is a story out of london, (sidney blumenthal?) It seems hitlary's friends are at it now with the hit pieces.
The ex wife comes across as a screw and a nut job no wonder there was a divorce in the end. But the MSM will keep her around for free untill they have to pay her to be on camera.
NH will be first no matter what.
I see another Super Tuesday fieasco. A national one day priary.
He can get away with it now---but if he decides to run, there will be questions about her absence.
Eleanor and Franklin were fifth cousins, once removed. They were both descended from the Dutchman Claes Martensz van Rosenvelt (Roosevelt).
I don't think anyone can get nominated by either party unless their spouse is constantly beside them playing the supportive spouse. Look at what happened to Howie Dean, his wife never showed up and he went from being the supposed front-runner to last place almost immediately. sKerry's wife/benefactor (or whatever the hell she is) also hurt him by opening her mouth. They need to stand there, smile, wave and every so often give a "canned" speech.
No question. Dean was forced to do a Diane Sawyer TV interview with his wife to dispel spousal questions. I believe the contrived togetherness worked against Dean----he and Mrs Dean acted so lovey-dovey, viewers thought the two were about to experience connubial bliss on-camera.
Ugh---another Terayza. With any luck, she'll make public speeches about raisins and gin like Terayza did. That lost Kerry a couple million votes.
With or without another Reagan, the coalition of social and fiscal conservatives must remain as a united front against all forms of liberalism. If not, the GOP has no future. Btw, while libertarians are fiscal conservatives, they're opposed to promoting the politics of social conservatism. In this day and age with secularism growing in intensity throughout American society, that places libertarians on the same side with social liberals. Just as most Democrats believe in policies of social and fiscal liberalism, most Republicans believe in social and fiscal conservatism. Some Republicans may place the social issues slightly ahead of fiscal concerns in relative importance, while others place the fiscal issues ahead of social concerns.
Bottomline. Social and fiscal conservatism has coexisted side by side for the better part of the last 30 years, and the GOP has had been highly successful winning elections during that time frame. From Reagan to Gingrich, to Bush43 in 2000. If the GOP wants to return to power as the "Conservative Party" in America, its best bet is to work at strengthening the relationship between social and fiscal conservatives. Driving a wedge between conservative factions within the GOP will only lead to more failure in future elections. Conservatives are the backbone of the Republican Party. And the GOP leadership has no business promoting a liberal to be the party standard bearer for 2008. That strategy will backfire.
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Reagan promoted a conservative policy agenda that included, a strong national defense, tax reform, limited govt and advancing the prolife agenda. Add to that a tough, no nonsense immigration policy. There is no need for a new coalition. Especially one that won't work. Social and fiscal conservatives together can win elections. Its a proven historic FACT.
One won't have this problem if one has no ex-wives.
I don't think there is any way for a couple to "fake it" for the amount of time it takes to be on the presidential campaign trail.
If the spouse doesn't totally support the candidate, it will eventually be obvious. I think the support is actually a lot more important than whether the two are even in love. Dean's wife seems to really love him, but it was obvious that she really didn't want to leave Vermont and be in the spotlight. On the other hand, back in 1992 when the Klintoons did their "60 Minutes" piece it was clear that Hitlery thought BJ was a POS, but she fully supported his run for the White House.
I don't care if it's legal or not, it's just plain wrong to marry your relatives.
I think an argument can be made to place it in both categories, I agree with you security is huge and ignored.
I understand that,but what we want and what we can get are two very different things.
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