Posted on 06/26/2007 9:26:57 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani has confronted a spate of bad news in recent days, from the drug indictment of his South Carolina chairman to criticism for skipping meetings of the Iraq Study Group.
Every campaign faces bad news at one time or another, but with a fundraising deadline looming Saturday, the timing couldn't be worse. Most voters are not tuned in, but for those who are giving and raising money for the former New York mayor, the heartburn-inducing headlines may make them think twice.
The string of events — some Giuliani's making, some out of his hands — comes as national polls continue to show him ahead of his rivals, but surveys in early voting states have him trailing or losing ground.
Unannounced candidate Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney outpace Giuliani in a Nevada poll released this week. Romney had the edge in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Giuliani's campaign, seeking to reassure his supporters, sent out a memo Friday contending that he still is well-positioned to win the Republican nomination for president.
"While the race has tightened and our campaign has been challenged, we continue to lead in public opinion polling and we are now a better-defined campaign than when this race began in February," said the memo written by Giuliani strategy director Brent Seaborn.
How Giuliani responds is a critical measure of his campaign, said GOP strategist Rich Galen.
"The test is how well he holds up in those periods every campaign has when things go badly," Galen said. "The Giuliani campaign has kept their eyes faced frontward. The secret is to keep the campaign moving forward."
Galen's son is a deputy campaign manager for McCain.
Among Giuliani's woes:
_Giuliani's South Carolina chairman, state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, was indicted on federal cocaine charges last week and stepped down from Giuliani's campaign. Ravenel's 80-year-old father, Arthur, remains regional chairman for the southeastern part of the state.
_Giuliani drew criticism last week for failing to attend official meetings of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel that unanimously called for gradual troop reductions in Iraq. Giuliani said he quit the panel after two months because it didn't seem that he could keep it focused on "a bipartisan, nonpolitical resolution." However, Newsday reported that instead of attending two meetings, Giuliani was at paid speaking engagements.
_New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was elected in 2001 with Giuliani's support, last week switched from Republican to unaffiliated, clearing the way for a possible independent presidential bid.
_Victims' advocates called on Giuliani to fire Monsignor Alan Placa, a Catholic priest suspended from the church over abuse allegations, from Giuliani's security consulting firm. A Giuliani spokeswoman said last week that the company has no plans to fire Placa, a childhood friend of Giuliani's.
_Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Todd Whitman said New York City, under then-mayor Giuliani, was repeatedly told that Sept. 11 emergency workers on the debris pile should wear respirators to protect their lungs. Whitman testified Monday on Capitol Hill. Giuliani's campaign responded that all ground zero workers were repeatedly told to wear respirators.
Analysts say older stories could also persist. For example, federal prosecutors are pursuing an investigation of Bernard Kerik, who was Giuliani's police commissioner and worked for his consulting firm.
All three leading Republicans — Giuliani, McCain and Romney — have dealt with bad news. Compounding their woes, however, is a GOP electorate hardly wowed by its choices — and Thompson waiting in the wings.
"Certainly Giuliani has had a rough couple of weeks," said Dante Scala, political science professor at the University of New Hampshire. "He can recover. In terms of trying to get activists' support and buzz, that's what summer is for."
Indeed, Giuliani's campaign promised to spend the summer promoting Giuliani and his dozen proposals — he calls them the "Twelve Commitments" — to address crime, spending, education and other areas.
"As voters have the opportunity to learn about the Mayor's Twelve Commitments, we will have provided them with ample cause to vote for Mayor Giuliani and solidify support," the memo reads.
Interesting that the AP which has “no political agenda”... seems to have a pretty specific mission with this article.
It’s ridiculous, esp the SC volunteer having a drug problem and getting busted, as if Giuliani had anything to do with that.
Trying to resuscitate McCain, perhaps? Good luck, lol
“e drug indictment of his South Carolina chairman to criticism for skipping meetings of the Iraq Study Group.”
I’m for Fred, but this article sound like an attempt to insert rumours into something that was never an issue. Its an attempt to malign a candidate
It’s ok, the Tarrance Group will tell them that he is leading with 170% of the likely vote
Here.
Amusing that they are trying to bash Giuliani but cannot allow themselves to hit him where it really hurts—abortion.
None of of this “bad news” is really significant, with the possible exception of his priest friend: “Victims’ advocates called on Giuliani to fire Monsignor Alan Placa, a Catholic priest suspended from the church over abuse allegations, from Giuliani’s security consulting firm.”
I will give Msgr. Placa the benefit of the doubt until I see more evidence. A fair number of priests have been falsely accused by “victims’ advocates,” AKA greedy trial lawyers. Maybe he was guilty, maybe not.
But there’s no doubt that Rudy is a pro-abortionist of the most extreme kind, and therefore unsuitable for the presidency. AP is embarrassed to say so, because they are all pro-abortion too.
“I’dth be Presidenth if it wasn’t for thoseth meddling FWeepersth.”
I applaud him for this.
But, I thought I had dressed for success...what went wrong???
I'd actually give Rudi points for missing meetings of the Iraq Surrender Group.
But I still can't vote for him due to his stands on illegal alien amnesty, abortion, gay marriage and a host of other issues.
It looks like this race is eventually going to winnow down to Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney. Neither is my first choice, but I think I could support either. Romney is certainly flip-flopping in the right direction. Thompson needs to explain his past support of McCain-Feingold and other issues just as Mitt has been grilled. We need to see how he holds up under pressure. We can't do that with friendly interviews on late night television and press releases.
If Thompson can't fill the conservative void, then we need to take a serious look at Duncan Hunter. There are great second tier candidates out there, it is just that Guilani/McCain are too far to the left of the moderate wing and Romney/Thompson seem too far to the left of the conservative base. So we essentially have all four top tier candidates closer to the moderate position and two of those four are totally unacceptable to most conservatives.
Amen! The percentage of pedophiles among former Catholic priests is a lot less than those amoung current public school teachers.
I was extremely unimpressed, even worried by Romney’s position on immigration. Very wimpy, he said the bill can be fixed with a minor tweak of the “Z” visa.
I get the impression that the man is lazy and doesn't want to do the work needed.
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