Posted on 03/29/2007 6:41:40 AM PDT by areafiftyone
They held out things for him to sign: Political fliers. Books. A baseball. Yankees hats. NYPD hats. FDNY hats. A girl's crayon drawing of an American flag on looseleaf paper. One woman even held out her checkbook.
They told him they loved him and wanted to vote for him and couldn't wait to see him in the White House.
They snapped him with their digital cameras and camera phones, shoving their children into the frame.
Moving through the aisles of the store on West Charleston Boulevard, Giuliani alternated a mock-serious survey of store shelves with posing for pictures, his rabbity, dimpled smile frozen in place.
From the $10 Value DVD rack, Giuliani selected "Remember the Titans," then waded in for more photo ops.
He stocked up on deodorant and Zone nutrition bars, batteries and lotion.
He picked up a book by Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, whose last name, properly pronounced "vee-ZELL," he pronounced "WISE-ull."
A young woman stopped Giuliani to tell him she'd just moved to Las Vegas from New York, where she was on the 73rd floor of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"My brother was there too," 27-year-old Jill Moran told Giuliani. "We both got out."
Moran articulated the reason everyone remembers Giuliani, the reason everyone seems to love him.
"He changed our lives," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "He's the reason we went back to the city. He's the reason we went back to work."
Giuliani makes it clear he's hoping to parlay his post-9/11 leadership into the presidency.
Asked in an interview what Nevada voters want, he said, "I think they're looking for the same thing people in New York are looking for, or Texas, or South Carolina, or Iowa or New Hampshire. They're looking for a leader. They're looking for somebody who can give the country direction, focus, at a time in which we're at war."
Those aren't necessarily qualities the current leadership lacks, Giuliani said.
"I think President Bush as president has really remained very, very focused on dealing with these terrorists and kept us on offense. But I think that's something that will be continually even more important as this moves along. Iraq is only one part of this whole terrorist war against us, and I think we've got to understand that we have to be on offense, and I think the American people are going to want a strong leader who can handle terrorism, and I think I probably have the most experience doing that."
That experience isn't limited to the legendary few months after 9/11, when Giuliani was credited with holding New York together in the wake of historic trauma, but comes from his long service as a federal prosecutor, Giuliani said.
"I handled all kinds of criminal cases, including terrorism," he said. "I investigated (former Palestinian leader) Yasser Arafat before anybody knew who he really was. I dealt with Nazi war criminals and had them sent back to be held to account for the crimes, acts against humanity. I've got a very, very long history of dealing with severe criminality and terrorism."
Giuliani was in Las Vegas just before the November election, stumping for Gov. Jim Gibbons. On Wednesday, Giuliani said he loves to play golf here, and that Las Vegas reminds him of New York City, from the tourists on the Strip to the 24-hour rhythm.
Giuliani said he was aware of the safety concerns with the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain and "somebody would have to take a good look at that."
When pressed, he did not rule out the repository, however.
"One of the things you've got to be real careful about with nuclear power is you've got to make sure it's really, really safe," he said. "Frankly, some of the problems that have occurred with Yucca Mountain are matters of grave concern, so you'd have to take a good look at that."
Those concerns should not kill the nuclear power industry, he said.
"We're going to have to find a way to expand nuclear power, because it's one of the ways in which we can give ourselves (energy) independence and also not have it impact on the environment, on pollution, global warming, the things that concern people," he said.
In polls, both nationally and in Nevada, Giuliani has a strong and steady lead among Republican voters in these very early days, long before the 2008 election. And yet the conventional wisdom in political circles is that he can't win the Republican nomination.
Is it just a stereotype to assume that Republican stalwarts won't support a thrice-married Italian-American with a brusque New York accent?
Or are the pundits right when they say all that adulation will fade when people get to know the Giuliani who is no right-winger when it comes to abortion, gun control, immigration and homosexuality?
Asked how he planned to get through the primary, Giuliani shrugged.
"Right now we're ahead," he said, laughing. "So we'll see if it stays that way."
I am. See my tagline.
Rudy IS a fiscal conservative. Hunter is not.
You are free to say the same thing over and over for several months now. So am I. Freedom is a good thing, isn't it.
Hmmm ... I gave ample reasons why Rudy is not a fiscal conservative. You just say he is one.
Report to HQ and have them put a new batch of one-liners in your pull box.
Who was the last senator to become president?
Kennedy.
Who was the last mayor to become president?
Nobody.
You're too dense to realize you shot yourself in the foot with that line of attack.
Good. I hope you can get excited about Thompson and enjoy working for him.
Rudy IS a fiscal conservative. Read his interview with Kudlow.
Sure you are free to be as negative as you like. You are free to be as emotionally immature as you like. And you are free to support whoever you like. I hope you can find someone that you support and enjoy working for them.
I look at his track record, and it is dismal, where conservatism is concerned. He is NOT a conservative by ANY stretch of the imagination, and I don't trust him.
Based on this, WHY would any Republican or self-described conservative take a CHANCE and support and/or vote for this liberal RINO, when there are others that are TRUE CONSERVATIVES that can be our man?
So you think that a senator has a good chance of becoming president because in 1960 Kennedy won? You are free to believe that if it makes you happy(s).
You're welcome.
Are you for real? Not...I must be imagining it. Ah ahm free at last!
So you just admitted you are NOT being *forced* to read threads here. LOL
You are free to click on or not click on whatever threads you choose and you are responsible for being the one who clicked on them.
Isn't freedom great. You are free to support whoever you like as are all Americans.
Winning with a Neo-con is a sure way to lose.
Is your goal to lower the IQ of a thread to the point where no one wants to post on it any longer? You're just spamming the same nonsensical platitudes over and over again. Please stop if you can't make a coherent point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.