Believe it or not, there was a time when I wanted to like Rudy Giuliani. There was even a time, seemingly ages ago, when I thought he might make a good candidate for President. I knew about some of his negatives… the scandals in New York surrounding his messy divorce and the disaster he made of his personal life. Like Clinton before him (and probably countless others not reported), I didn’t think marital fidelity (or infidelity) was a fair judgement of the kind of leader he could be. Of course we can’t forget 9/11, and his stint as “America’s Mayor.”
All that is now over. I don’t feel that way any more.
Why? For one thing, I can’t forgive Rudy for all the love he’s carrying around for George. For another, I’m a little resentful over all the 9/11 references in his campaign. I don’t think there’s one time I’ve seen him without a reference to that day. I need another reason to vote for you Rudy (and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be your health care proposals… but I’ll save that for another time).
Then there was an article I read in the Village Voice: Rudy Giuliani’s Five Big Lies About 9/11. I’ll admit… it’s probably not the place your going to find a lot of love for a candidate who’s positioning himself as the conservative’s conservative for the 2008 election. Still, he did serve two terms as the mayor of that city, and who would know him better than a paper that was there for it all? The basic premise for the article is that Rudy’s claims regarding his terrorism credentials… are total crap. Give it a read. Wether you agree with the accusations or not, it makes for a great conversation starter… just ask my wife ;-)
I have no doubt that he’s a decent guy in a crisis… perhaps even great. The problem is, there’s an awful lot he’d be responsible for in-between crises. That’s the part I’m less sure about. There’s the allegations made in the article mentioned above, and all that foam he’s wiping from his mouth on the campaign trail… all of it makes me nervous… and not a little.