Giuliani: Bush's dream ticket

Scotland On Sunday ^ | 29 Feb 2004 | BEN MCCONVILLE IN NEW YORK

[aculeus]

US PRESIDENT George Bush is ready to pull off the biggest shock of this year’s election campaign by naming Rudy Giuliani as his running mate at the Republican convention in Manhattan in September.

Giuliani remains the most popular politician in the US and speculation is mounting that Bush will announce the former New York mayor as his vice presidential candidate as the country marks the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The Republican party has already carried out canvassing of voters to assess how much support Giuliani has across the country and, according to reports, received high levels of public support.

The public has not forgotten Giuliani’s stoic leadership in the dark days after 9/11, when his words and actions became a beacon for the American people.

Analysts believe Bush, who lags behind Democratic frontrunner Senator John Kerry in opinion polls, would benefit from tapping into Giuliani’s popularity.

Dozens of polls since 2001 have shown Giuliani to be the most popular politician in the US, even though he has not held public office since Michael Bloomberg took over the post of mayor of New York in 2002.

Leading commentator Al Neuharth, the man who created USA Today, said Bush would do what his father did not - namely dump his vice president, currently Dick Cheney.

Neuharth said the ideal time for the announcement would be at the Republican convention in September, commemorating 9/11 at Ground Zero.

Bringing Giuliani on board would be a massive boost for Bush, who is lining up to run as a ‘war President’, concentrating on the war on terror rather than the war in Iraq.

Neuharth said: "No one stirs us more on anti-terrorism than Giuliani, for his handling of the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center while he was mayor of New York City.

"Bush and his political signal callers actually have tested Giuliani nationwide, during the 2002 mid-term elections and since. They like what they saw.

"Bush’s popularity has slipped sharply, and the election will be much closer than many thought a few months ago. The Bush administration will be under fire, particularly on Iraq."

He said losing Cheney and possibly defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, could help protect Bush from criticism over Iraq. "They clearly were the hawks who helped Bush decide to go after Saddam Hussein," Neuharth said.

Republican activists expressed their admiration for Giuliani and said he could prove a major boost at the polls.

Jerry Roe, a Michigan historian and former state Republican Party executive director, said: "Let’s put it this way, I’d love to see Giuliani as vice president. I think Cheney’s health could be a factor. And then add up all the negatives on the Halliburton thing."

Bob Tennant, a Republican activist and associate editor of the Delcot Times, said many in the party would like to see Giuliani run.

He said: "You let your mind go numb, dream, and you could convince yourself it could possibly be true. "Giuliani is perhaps the guy the Republican National Committee secretly wishes could run for the Oval Office.

"He’s the Republican no Democrat could say anything negative about. He saved New York City. Twice. Once before 9/11, and once after."

Under the headline "NYers want Rudy back on duty", a poll in the New York Post last September revealed that 62% of voters across New York state wanted him to return to public service either as governor, senator or a return to mayor.

The poll showed he would beat Hillary Clinton in a race for senator of New York by 57% to 40%. There is also significant support for Giuliani as a Republican presidential candidate.

Cheney, has come under fire for his links to the firm Halliburton. He was its chief executive for five years and the firm was awarded multibillion dollar contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Cheney is also in a poor state of health and, at the age of 63, has had four heart attacks. For the past three years a device in his chest has ensured his heart pumps normally.

In the White House he has an influential - some believe decisive - say on the strategic issues of the day, from long-term energy policy to invading Iraq.

But his leading role in foreign policy has left his fingerprints all over the hyping of intelligence about Iraqi weapons.

He visited the CIA several times before the war, and his chief of staff, Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, tried to persuade Colin Powell, the secretary of state, to ‘sex up’ the case against Saddam Hussein by sending him memos bursting with unsubstantiated claims.

Hardly a week passes without a new investigation into Halliburton’s operations in Iraq, from overcharging $61m for fuel deliveries to billing the government for thousands of soldiers who did not exist.

National Journal, the ultimate Washington insider’s magazine, this week put Cheney’s picture on its cover with the title: "Just the Ticket? Does having Dick Cheney as his running mate help or hurt George W Bush in 2004?"

A Time/CNN poll this month found that only 43% of Americans thought Cheney should be on the Republican election ticket.

Republican sources said that if Cheney considered himself to be a liability he would step down as vice president.

Bill Frist, the party leader in the Senate and a former doctor, has been suggested as a possible replacement. But Giuliani has the charisma, the finances and the backers within the Republican party.

He has so far declined to say whether he wants to return to public office, but has appeared to have been quietly canvassing support.

Since leaving the mayor’s office he has headed his own security consulting firm and has appeared as a regular pundit on cable news channels such of Fox News.

Barring a convenient capture of Osama bin Laden in October, Giuliani is Bush’s best hope of capturing a popular tide ahead of elections on November 2.

[cmsgop]

Oh Please.........

[Mulder]

He may as well pick Hitlery for VP.

She's about as "conservative" as Guiliani.

[mathluv]

Rudy is fine for NY, but waaaaaay too liberal on social issues.

[Bringbackthedraft]

Ah ha, I just posted this on another thread and predicted it as a Oct suprise, I guess I should have said September. This is the Dem's worst nightmare! Kiss your butt good-bye Hillary 08!

[Hand em their arse]

Give me a break, would never happen. Guiliani is WAY too NY for the rest of the country. I love him because I'm from NJ and think nobody is better than him but this would never happen!

[FastCoyote]

Personally, I plan my entire life around the opinions of Al Neuharth. How could one go wrong building a life based on the Oracle of USA Today?

[Mulder]

This is the Dem's worst nightmare

It's America's worst nightmare also.

The totalitarians have already taken over the democratic party (I believe their murder of Congressman McDonald completed this task).

Should Bush select the gun-grabbing statist Guiliani, the totalitarians will also own the Republican Party.

[cynicom]

The author might be shocked to find out that the sun does not rise and set in New York City.

[MegaSilver]

He’s the Republican no Democrat could say anything negative about.

And that became a good thing WHEN?

[jocon307]

"He saved New York City. Twice."

It is true, it is 100% true. And the first time, he did it single-handedly. I grew up in Manahttan, and have lived in the NY Metro area for nearly every single day of my life. NYC was truly teetering on the edge of the abyss. Giuliani pulled it back, throught the force of sheer will, it seemed to me. He was called a racist, a Nazi, every slur in the liberal book, but he never even blinked.

I disagree with him on many issues, but to me he'll always be a hero because he saved my beloved city. As the man says, not once, but twice.

I would vote for him for anything. There is no question that Cheney will NOT run for president. Putting Rudy on the ticket now, and thereby making him the presumptive candidate in 2008 is OK by me. However, he is very bad on the pro-life, etc. issues, and that may alienate the base. Plus, I know NY Dems who love Giuliani, but they wouldn't vote for him.

[bobo1]

I prefer Cheney.

Blessings, Bobo

[XRdsRev]

As a fellow New Jerseyan, I agree with you that Rudy was the right guy for New York City but he definately is not a good fit for National Leadership unless the Republican Party wants to become Democrat-Light on Social Issues. Another thing is that Rudy is definately NOT a team player....he wants to be number 1 not 2.

[billorites]

The list of inaccuracies is astounding.

Bill Frist is not a former doctor. Like he was defrocked?

Cheney has a stent in a coronary artery, not a pacemaker.

The list goes on...

[Leroy S. Mort]

Neuharth said the ideal time for the announcement would be at the Republican convention in September, commemorating 9/11 at Ground Zero.

I hope they have sense enough to insert a bathroom break between this and when they roll Osama Bin Laden down the aisle of the Convention on a gurney. That'll serve NBC right for not covering the convention gavel to gavel. Neuharth is a loon.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Amazing to get the inside scoop on U.S. politics from Scotland, is it not?

P.J. O'Rourke on the Scots:

SCOTS

Racial Characteristics:

Sour, stingy, depressing beggars who parade around in schoolgirl skirts with nothing on underneath. Their fumbled attempt at speaking the English language has been a source of amusement for five centuries, and their idiot music has been dreaded by those not blessed with deafness for at least as long. The latter is produced on a device resembling five flutes that have grown a piss bladder. Formerly, the Scots painted themselves blue and ranged far and wide over the British Isles, but good fortune prevailed and they were conquered by their betters. What passes for an alcoholic beverage in the dreary province to which the Scots have been driven has enjoyed a short vogue among fairies and advertising types, but this appears to be giving way to cocaine.

Good Points:

Attractive plaids.

Proper Forms of Address:

Scotty, Jock, legs, plaid ass.

An Anecdote Illustrating Something of the Scots Character:

In recent years, the small Scottish Nationalist movement has become so desperate that it's been kidnapping money and ransoming it for people.

[kennedy]

When pigs fly out of my butt.

If Giuliani runs against Hillary for NY Senator, I'll be all for it. Hell, I'll even contribute to his campaign, but he is waaay too liberal for Bush to ever pick as VP. Bush knows that he will win the election by motivating his base, not by angering his base trying to pick up a few liberal voters.

[Salman]

Julie Annie? Gimme a break. Here's the real dream running mate:

[Bullish]

I prefer Cheney.

I do to. But if we're going to save this country from Hillary and her mob than we have to use every available tool and Rudy may just be the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[PLK]

The real dream ticket is Bush-Rice - surely the strategists MUST be considering this at some level!

I want to be saying "President Rice" in 2008. First woman, first black, and an evil Republican to-boot. It's too delicious .....