Posted on 04/03/2007 4:02:00 AM PDT by Liz
The Giuliani '08 juggernaut just ran head-on into Podhoretz's First and Last Law of Politics, namely: No politician seeking the nation's highest office can do as much damage to another as he can do to himself. --SNIP-- The question before us today is whether Rudy Giuliani committed a blunder of comparable proportions by consenting to a Barbara Walters request for a joint interview with him and his wife Judi - during the course of which he said, embarrassingly, that he would welcome her presence at Cabinet meetings and listen to her closely on issues relating to health care.
Until that moment, he had handled his presidential bid as perfectly as could be imagined......his four months of bliss came to an end when ABC News released the first snippets of the Walters interview last Thursday..... Walters moment only revealed that Rudy ......thought he could say something cute about his wife that really wasn't cute at all - seemed perhaps more about currying favor with her than about finding the appropriate balance between portraying a loving marriage and depicting a future presidency. Of course, what Rudy was doing with Barbara Walters was an effort....- to neutralize the damaging effect of his marital history by being open and clear and honest. He did that well.....then he muffed it.
News of the Walters interview began a 96-hour ordeal for Giuliani that included the leak of his grand-jury testimony in the case of his former police commissioner's ties to a crooked contractor - potentially his most serious liability - and the revelations that Judi Giuliani has actually been married more than twice and had worked for a medical-equipment firm that used (and thus killed) dogs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
How about that, he brings her into the mix with that Cabinet Meeting baloney, then says 'off limits'. Touchy little dictator isn't he.
Mmmmmm.......your carefully-thought out assessment notwithstanding, I would come to a very different conclusion.
Appears that Rudy is a drama king and LOVES to stir up trouble.
Rudy doesn't give a fig about laws and constitutional freedoms (fine for a Mayor; not for a pres candidate).
Rudy absolutely knew Kerik was a crook. He effected a "so what" attitude preferring to run AT the problem when it surfaced.....to show-off his vaunted ability to deal with problems (is that getting to be obsessive-compulsive with Rudy?).
And woe be to whose who would dare speak out, who would dare suggest Rudy was not being forthright.
Summing up---Rudy's theatrics are not good enough. Not for conservatives. The hallmark of a conservative is to perceive a problem on the horizon and to work to avoid the problem.
Perceive and avoid problems---key words.
Rudy's trouble-making skills and his love of drama are non-starters.
I can see it now. For the next year and half, the Post runs a daily anti-Rudy hit piece (”Rudy smokes cigarette when 19! Said he didn’t at a party five years ago!”) (”Rudy’s wife returned spoiled goods to supermarket... without a receipt!”) (”Rudy’s doorman is black, and Rudy didn’t say Good Morning to him last week! Is Rudy racist?”) ... which is duly reproduced by the Anti-Rudy crowd here, to give some another opportunity to chortle and say: “Heh, heh. SEE? That lousy RINO doesn’t have a chance!” - thereby, of course, giving the demented RATS the White House in the person of Her Highness, ably assisted by the hard-core faithful here, who will STILL be thinking Newt’s gonna pull it off as a write-in on November 4th.
(”Rudy smokes cigarette when 19! Said he didn’t at a party five years ago!”)
(”Rudy’s wife returned spoiled goods to supermarket... without a receipt!”)
(”Rudy’s doorman is black, and Rudy didn’t say Good Morning to him last week! Is Rudy racist?”).......
What great story ideas---the NY Post should hire you immediately. You can put me down as a reference. LOL.
" Rudy who is outside the neat little box of purity and righteousness, is connecting with many voters who are outside the neat little box of purity and righteousness"
LOL, thats a very apt description, who could disagree?
This gave me a great idea for Rudy campaign slogan to put on buttons and posters.
The Rudy camp needs to approach author Stephen King, and ask if they can borrow a line from "Storm of the Century", "Live in sin, well come on in" .
I can picture it on a big banner behind him at the convention!
Very well put!
“Make no mistake, the MSM is FOR Hillary; they will drive this process in any way to get her the presidency. Rudy is not the answer for the GOP. He’s a liberal.”
The MSM is for any Democrat—what else is new? The point is, both Hillary and Rudy are known entities. Nobody cares much about their personal histories. As for this Walters interview, I thought it showed Mrs. G. in a favorable light. She seemed—well, nice. People will like her. She is not a liability by any stretch. In fact, she seemed pretty self-effacing, a little nervous as might be expected, but seemed an intelligent and dignified person generally. The media will be hard pressed to find fault with her. Camera-wise, she and Rudy looked fine together. This casual remark about cabinet meetings was made in passing and was obviously not thought-through—though it gives ammo to those who oppose Rudy’s nomination. Still, there’s all those blue state polls...
And a lot of Rudy’s opponents are overlooking one other major factor—the Italian-American vote which is 10% of the electorate and which is concentrated on the east and west coasts—blue state territory. That is a huge advantage—and don’t think the Dems don’t know it, which is why they are hoping and praying he doesn’t get the nomination.
"Read...my...lisp..." No more guns!
Well, you know, King has a way with words.
That about sums up Rudeo's campaign----now we gotta get some talented Freeper photoshopper to put it together.
“The smug arrogance of these two is apparent. They act like dictators who will not countenance criticism.”
The smug arrogance is on the part of single-issue people who’d rather lose the election than give an inch. Fine. You people can take a hike. Rudy will still win more blue and purple states than any other Republican candidate and he will still help more Republicans get into Congress than any other candidate and he will still do more good for the conservative cause in the long than Hunter or Thompson or Romney or McCain or Gingrich, any one of whom would bring disaster in ‘08. If that’s of no concern to you, then you are not a Republican and should join another party.
considerably less baggage and considerably more conservative positions for starters. and a better chance at winning the WH. that's all. : )
The news guy’s point was that most candidates that say things like that, quickly get into deeper trouble with the media. Like a mad dog, don’t show fear or they will attack.
I don’t like Rudy, but to be honest I don’t like attacking a mans wife to get to him. That is dishonorable.
Allow me to pose one serious question to you. Assume, happily for us all, that Duncan Hunter or Fred Thompson wins the GOP nomination and is elected President. What position in that administration would you like to see Rudy hold?
Rudy will lose for sure against Hillary. The others might have a chance. It is not a single issue, but there are lots of issues where Rudy and Hillary are similar. That is exactly why many will take your advice and vote third party.
Well they would probably have to clear something like that with King I would think.
Then there are some dishonorable people here.
Rudy isn't "done." That's absurd. Defending himself against the press helps him in fact.
Fred brings nothing to the table except his television persona. That’s not good enough for ‘08. He’s a lousy campaigner who had a single lackluster term in the Senate. If he espoused conservative causes, I’d like to hear about it. Rudy, on the other hand, has been a pro-military fiscally conservative supply-sider from day one—and put his money where his mouth is in NYC.
Not until Fred gets off his behind.
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