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Rudy Giuliani has achieved new-found significance this week (to Republicans) because he’s apparently some kind of expert on terrorism due to him putting the emergency command center inside a clear terrorist target prior to 9-11.
A spate of stories today suggest that Giuliani will return to national politics next year. While the New York Times reported that Giuliani would not run for the Republican nomination for Governor of New York, the Daily News says he will run for US Senate, with an eye toward yet another national run in 2012:
A source familiar with Giuliani’s thinking said the failed presidential candidate has been telling people he plans to run against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010 to fill out the remaining two years of Hillary Clinton’s term.
If elected, the source said, he could use that as a stepping stone to run for President in 2012 – rather than run for re-election to the Senate.
A Giuliani spokeswoman downplayed the reports. “Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it,” she said. “When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own.”
Giuliani’s aides are denying the report even further, but recent polling would have to entice the former NYC Mayor a little bit. A Marist poll out today shows Giuliani beating Kristen Gillibrand 54-40 in a head-to-head matchup.
However, Michael Crowley gets quotes from sources close to Giuliani saying that the Senate is not his style.
Even though a recent poll had Giuliani beating [Gillibrand] by nine points, Giuliani laughs off the idea. “My value is in running things,” he told me. “Commenting is great, but I get to do that anyway on television and radio and [in] op-ed pieces.” “It’s a job that we have discussed in the past, and he just has no desire to do it,” [longtime advisor Anthony] Carbonetti says.
I would add that those poll numbers, given that Giuliani has probably 100% name recognition in New York, and that generic Democratic support is at a low ebb, and the trajectory of last year’s Presidential campaign, where Rudy repelled people every time he campaigned, are exceedingly soft. So Giuliani may opt out of either campaign in preference for keeping the past glory of “America’s Mayor” relatively intact.
Then again, given the ego in question and the lead in the polls, he could go for it…
I think Democratic operatives would have a lot of fun with Rudy’s recent record. The name “Bernie Kerik” comes to mind.
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All he needs is Palin’s endorsement!
You know, in some malarial-induced psychotic state, I seem to recall Giuliani making all sorts of statements about the risks of trying the Blind Sheikh and the Kenyan Embassy bombers in New York. He stated then that New Yorkers were afraid. He said “Why aren’t these trials held in Kenya…or maybe New Jersey. Anywhere but New York! It’ll just bring criminals to our fair city. I’ve spent most of my career getting rid of the unshaved Arab taxi drivers and replacing them with a higher quality of
criminal, er“Wall Street Exec”citizen.He told George W. Bush…”Al Qaida will attack us, get these guys out of here!”. Remember when he refused to accompany Bush around after 9/11 and said “Bush didn’t transfer the trials and sentencing to…well Wyoming. Bush is to blame for this!”
Giuliani said throughout these trials…”There’s no way the blind-cleric will get convicted in a civilian trial in the Big Apple. He’ll have everyones’ sympathy…remember OJ? New Yorkers are such pushovers for the handicapped that we’d probably make the guy governor. Ha-ha, that’s a joke my law-abiding Daddy told me. But reality -New York is full of Muslim taxicab drivers and one will likely get on the jury. What then, America!”
Yeah I remember Giuliani wetting his pants about the other terrorism trials in New York. He also opposed all the mob trials in New York because “there might be violence, I know the Gottis”!
So Rudy is being perfectly consistent. He’s never supported having trials in New York City of any violent person…that’s why he opposed bringing charges against the copes in the Abner Louima case.
Giuliani would do less harm if he runs for Senate instead of the statehouse. He’s an extremely flawed character with ancient ideas, yet neither of these two criticisms make a difference in our upside down world (see Vitter, Palin, Sanford for examples).