Posted on 02/16/2007 1:58:44 PM PST by Spiff
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, has become the clear frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination despite a personal life that his own staff once conceded opened him up to accusations of "weirdness".
A USA Today/Gallup poll gave Mr Giuliani a 16-point lead over his rival Senator John McCain and showed him trailing Hillary Clinton, the leading Democrat, by just a single percentage point.
But the extent of his task to persuade Americans he can lead them was underlined this week when a remarkable 450-page "vulnerability study", compiled by aides in 1993, emerged. His current advisers fear that his colourful past and his liberal social positions could scupper his candidacy.
The study listed all the former prosecutor's perceived weaknesses as part of a "tough and hard-hitting" assessment.
Mr Giuliani, who subsequently became a national hero as mayor of New York after the September 11 attacks, ordered all copies of the document to be destroyed. But it was obtained by a reporter working on a book about him and posted on the Smoking Gun website.
According to the document, chief among his problems as he sought re-election as mayor was that his "personal life raises questions about a "weirdness factor". This stemmed from a 14-year first marriage to his second cousin that was annulled by the Roman Catholic Church.
"When asked about his personal life, Giuliani gives a wide array of conflicting answers. All of this brings the soundness of his judgement into question - and the veracity of his answers."
Mr Giuliani, who has twice married subsequently, was also vulnerable to claims he avoided service in Vietnam by receiving "special treatment from a friendly federal judge" and later "hypocritically prosecuted draft dodgers".
In an interview with CNN's Larry King Live on Wednesday, Mr Giuliani conceded that there was lots of material with which the press and opponents could attack him. "The way I deal with that is, hey, I'm a human being," he said.
"You know, I made mistakes. I'm not perfect. I keep trying to learn from them. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I keep working on that. I keep trying to learn from them. I'm a human being, much like, I think, everybody else." Mr Giuliani confirmed that he was in favour of abortion rights and against gun control - litmus-test issues for many conservatives - but emphasised that he personally hated abortion.
He would also "select judges who try to interpret the Constitution rather than invent it" - a notable reassurance to conservatives who fear presidents who use judicial appointments to engage in what many see as liberal social engineering via the courts. Whereas Democrats often reject a front runner during the party primaries, Republicans tend to coalesce around a leading candidate who they feel is electable by the broader populace. Mr Giuliani, 62, is vying to be that candidate in place of Mr McCain, 70, the early choice of the Republican establishment.
The document was the second to hand Mr Giuliani's White House rivals an arsenal of ammunition against him. Last month, a 140-page campaign battle plan setting out budgets, fundraising plans and details of possibly "insurmountable" problems with his candidacy was leaked to a New York tabloid.
Colourful past threatens Giuliani's lead
The Daily Telegraph
By Toby Harnden in Washington
Last Updated: 2:04am GMT 16/02/2007
Ah, not so my friend. He has my families prayers and we pray alot. LOL
He'll also get more cash from us and we donate a lot.
And we don't mind standing on the corner with signs and handouts arguing with lefties either.
11 months is a long time in politics.
Have faith!
But unlike Clinton, Hunter doesn't have charisma.
Just kiddin'. I think America is ready for Duncan Hunter. We'll see.
Clinton did not have charisma. He had Peyronie's disease.
A lot of time it is mistaken for charisma.
The Rudy threads are largely a repeat of the CA Recall threads. The slogans are - "Vote for the RINO, to keep the Dems Out of Power."
However, what good is that if the RINO acts exactly like a Dem? We need to keep an eye out for the Republican candidates to see if they start to parrot Arnold's call for "Post-Partisan Solutions". The last thing we need is for Arnold to write the movie script, "GOP - The Comeback." It is sure to be a box office bomb.
Oh okay...
On the House Armed Services Committee, Hunter has protected U.S. defense jobs in aircraft, ship repair, machine tools, textile, steel and titanium to ensure that what he calls the Arsenal of Democracy, the U.S. industrial base, is maintained to provide security in time of war. Unfortunately, in his quest for greater defense spending, Rep. Hunter often votes for increased spending across all government programs.
From his Website
American workers are the most productive and innovative labor force in the world. Unfortunately, they are asked to compete in an unfair environment against other workers who make only a fraction of a living wage and are employed by companies that face few, if any, responsibilities to the environment or the long-term prospects of their employees. Our domestic manufacturers are forced to compete against foreign companies that benefit from their countrys currency and regulatory regimes. Ominously, China is cheating on trade and using billions of American trade dollars to build ships, planes and missiles at an alarming rate while, at the same time, taking millions of American jobs. I will reverse this one-way street with a new policy of fair trade for the American worker
Blah, blah, China cheats, 'fair wage', ensure US industrial base...Cry me a river. You can put lipstick on it, but it's still a pig. It is protectionist nonsense. Same sentiment, different (but not by much) words. The same crap spouted by Hamilton and his lackeys in the 19th century still smells like crap today.
In addition to character, honesty, values and faith, in my home, when assessing people of influence and power and even some every day folks, we were taught to look for charisma, sharpness, articulateness and wit. In today's world the second set of characteristics, are probably even more important to winning in this kind of political contest, than the first set of characteristics, depending on the contestants.
To defeat a well known candidate like Hillary, who will be well supported by the major media, it is going to take a candidate who possesses the last four. Unfortunately, that's not Hunter.
Romney is running on a conservative platform, unlike Rudy, AND he is sharp, charismatic, witty and articulate. He can defeat Hillary. Unless, a candidate running on a conservative platform emerges who is a proven conservative like Hunter and is sharp, charismatic, witty and articulate like Romney, Romney will receive my vote.
They may be but they will never recognize it.
I always thought Clinton had the charisma of a used-car salesman. But that, most unfortunately, is not how America saw him.
They truly are. It's deja vu on those threads.
Hunter I thought did well, surprisingly well, on Hannity in his tete a tete with some hapless newbee Dem House member who took over the Gutknecht seat in Minnesota. He also was impressive in some committee hearing that I watched. One must give credit where credit is due. Hunter needs to lose some weight though. He has that rumpled look.
Then, perhaps you are wrong about your assessment of Duncan Hunter's charisma. ;-)
"Or the hypocrisy of purchasing an anullment from the Catholic Church after 14 years of marriage."
A patently false statement such as this tends to discredit the other possibly true comments in your posting.
Dear TAdams8591,
"I always thought Clinton had the charisma of a used-car salesman."
I was never impressed with him on television.
However, in person, he was the most charismatic person I ever met. I understood instantly why he inspired such loyalty in those who worked for him - which was his political salvation, that those who worked for him and knew him were willing to do anything for him, including go to jail.
sitetest
"we need to find a conservative leader..."
As my post #82 suggested, what's wrong with Duncan Hunter?
So far, almost nothing. He's definitely a conservative.
Now, the rhetorical question: is he a leader? Can he get the money and support needed to be a viable candidate?
"She seems remarkably resilient. Not long after a wildfire consumed his house, he asked her, "Honey, can you do a fundraiser in two weeks?'' She said, "Sure. My son is in Fallujah, my house has burned down, how many people do you want to invite?''
I like this lady!
Dear xzins,
"I think Rudy could be vulnerable after 4 years, and the primary system does allow for contenders to weigh in."
I didn't say that Mr. Giuliani would be invulnerable after four years.
Rather, I pointed out that if Mr. Giuliani were taken down by Republicans after four years and replaced with another candidate, or if he were to be on the receiving end of a strong challenge within the party, it would nearly ensure a Dem win of the presidency in 2012.
At least, that's generally been the result.
sitetest
I got awfully close but I never met Clinton in person. Others have made the same observation you have, and I always wanted to meet him in person to see for myself if it was true.
Dear TAdams8591,
I remember once working in the Old Executive Office Building. I was a contractor doing technical work - not one of the Clinton crew. The president was to give a speech in the Rose Garden, so for the sake of appearances to the media, they hearded a bunch of us outside to "listen" to the speech.
As I stood there, Mr. Clinton came out of the Oval Office and walked over to the podium in the Rose Garden. It was like watching the sun move across the walkway. I caught my breath.
I remember thinking to myself, "This is the glamour of evil. This is the attraction of Satan himself."
sitetest
Only slightly better than half of ALL Americans would even consider voting for a guy married three times, according to recent polling. Rudy has many rocky roads ahead as people learn more about him.
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