On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks “changed everything.” And through the alchemy of mass communications, television made New York’s Mayor Rudolph Giuliani into the symbol of the stricken metropolis’ resilient spirit. Overnight, the term-limited politician whose polls had sunk below 40 percent and who, for “personal reasons” sidestepped a Senate contest against Hillary Rodham Clinton, became in the words of his current mailings to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, “America’s Mayor.”
Who and what is the real man behind the blurred myth? Famously a Brooklyn-born Roman Catholic, he is thrice-married and twice-divorced. He is bitterly estranged from his grown children. During the 1960s, Giuliani was a self-described “Robert Kennedy Democrat” and voted for liberal George McGovern in 1972.
Rudy and the 9/11 Card
Jack Newfield in The Nation wrote a few years ago: “Rudy Giuliani was a C-plus Mayor who has become an A-plus myth. Since the atrocity of 9/11, Giuliani has managed to merge himself with wounded New York until the man and the metropolis ….seem to be one heroic blur.” And people forget that Giuliani’s much-discussed 9/11 credentials did not get him the endorsement of the Republican co-chair of the 9/11 Commission, headed by New Jersey’s respected former Governor Tom Kean.
In 1975, Giuliani switched his party registration from Democrat to Independent after he landed a job in Gerald Ford’s Justice Department.
On December 8, 1980, Giuliani changed his registration again from Independent to Republican – one month after Ronald Reagan’s election and became Associate Deputy Attorney General under William French Smith in 1981 and then was named U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York by President Reagan in 1983.
Wayne Barrett in his book Rudy!, in a 1988 interview, quotes Giuliani’s mother, Helen Giuliani: “He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them. He’s definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isn’t. He still feels very sorry for the poor.”
Is Giuliani a champion image-centered political chameleon? Why do the Republicans tell pollsters that they object to Giuliani’s support of gay rights, gun control, abortion and even open-borders immigration yet they see him as decisive and tough?
Romney has 33 percent of the GOP vote in the CNN/University of New Hampshire poll published last week, compared with 18 percent for McCain and 16 percent for Giuliani. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson dropped to sixth place, with a 4 percent showing.
Republicans may “like” Giuliani – recognize the name -- but will they vote for him? I am beginning to doubt whether this urban cowboy’s new “Strength Through Leadership” campaign has the staying power it needs.
In 1975, Giuliani switched his party registration from Democrat to Independent after he landed a job in Gerald Ford’s Justice Department.
On December 8, 1980, Giuliani changed his registration again from Independent to Republican – one month after Ronald Reagan’s election and became Associate Deputy Attorney General under William French Smith in 1981 and then was named U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York by President Reagan in 1983.
Wayne Barrett in his book Rudy!, in a 1988 interview, quotes Giuliani’s mother, Helen Giuliani: “He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them. He’s definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isn’t. He still feels very sorry for the poor.”
Is Giuliani a champion image-centered political chameleon? Why do the Republicans tell pollsters that they object to Giuliani’s support of gay rights, gun control, abortion and even open-borders immigration yet they see him as decisive and tough?
Romney has 33 percent of the GOP vote in the CNN/University of New Hampshire poll published last week, compared with 18 percent for McCain and 16 percent for Giuliani. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson dropped to sixth place, with a 4 percent showing.
Republicans may “like” Giuliani – recognize the name -- but will they vote for him? I am beginning to doubt whether this urban cowboy’s new “Strength Through Leadership” campaign has the staying power it needs.
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