No one has been elected President while that candidate was a U.S. rep. I didn't say that Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, or George H.W. Bush were elected President while they were congressmen. I didn't distort reality. I didn't say any nonsense. I stated facts that many people who were congressman later became Presidents. I think that Rudy might be a good President if he got more political experience.
8 years as Mayor of NYC is pretty good experience. NYC has more people and a bigger budget than about 40 states. Being Mayor of NYC isn't called the "Second toughest job in America" for nothing.
And I say being mayor of NYC, let alone on 9-11, is a bigger job than being congresscritter. Where's Paul's district anyway? Is it rural?
Did you see this, in today's Best of the Web? (james tarranto of wsj)
In fairness to our friends in Congress, what Giuliani is describing here is partly just the nature of the institution. A body made up of 535 people can't possibly be "decisive" in the way that one man can. Even if every member of Congress were as decisive as Giuliani, they would still have to compromise in order to get anything done.
But the character of the institution does reflect itself in the character of the individuals in it, either because they learn to adjust or because the most successful lawmakers are those who master the art of compromise.
Being president calls for a different set of skills and strengths than being in Congress, and this may be why America has elected only three sitting congressmen as president (Rep. James Garfield and Sens. Warren Harding and John F. Kennedy). It's also why we're skeptical of all the senators seeking the White House this time around, and why in our estimation Giuliani has the best shot at being the next president.