NewBocaGuy

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Giuliani Stands For More Of The Same

The Tampa Tribune Editorial Board

January 11, 2008

Rudy Giuliani marched his way into America's heart when he walked that dusty boulevard to the twin towers after the attacks of 9/11. He became a national hero that day, a leader in a time of crisis.

Giuliani's strong resume is attractive to conservatives. He investigated corruption as a U.S. attorney and tackled crime and code enforcement as New York's mayor. His campaign to fight a culture of lawlessness by enforcing even minor laws – like fixing broken windows – is a case study in leadership.

But despite his leadership after 9/11 and his turnaround of a crime-ridden city, Giuliani is not the person best positioned to lead America's interests and ideals.

For all it offers, New York City is not reflective of the nation and Giuliani's disposition is not a good fit.

The mayor is a tough-talking New Yorker – a little too tough for our tastes.

In a conversation with this editorial board, he said the way to end terrorism is: "You get rid of the nation states that support it," opening the door to a host of possibilities.

He casually dismissed the National Intelligence Estimate, a consensus by the nation's 16 intelligence divisions that says Iran suspended its nuclear ambitions in 2003. Iran deserves microscopic scrutiny, no question, but Giuliani should understand that Americans will not support an invasion based on gut instinct. ... ( read more )

Friday, January 11, 2008

Bye Rudy ...

Josh Marshall
Talking Points Memo
01.11.08

It's bad enough that Rudy's had to ask his top staff to go without pay so that his campaign can conserve money for the do-or-die (for Rudy) Florida primary on January 29th. Now comes word that Rudy has fallen into a tie with John McCain in New York.

The most recent poll of his do-or-die state of Florida has him running third, six points behind Huckabee and two behind Romney. Seventeen polls have been taken in Florida since September 12th. And before the most recent one, only one of those did not have Rudy in the lead. ... ( read more )

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Rudy's New Hampshire: Little Press, Lots of Tough Talk

Giuliani and supporters invoke Reagan, illegal aliens and ‘ungovernable’ New York

Choire Sicha
Politics
The New York Observer
January 8, 2008

MERRIMACK, N.H.—Rudy Giuliani polled terribly in New Hampshire and therefore lost every candidate’s apparently God-given right to an attentive press corps; he was mostly down to New Hampshire TV and a handful of New York-based daily reporters.

Who could resist? (Besides most everyone.) I decided to embed.

In the packed spin room after the Republican debate on Saturday, Katie Levinson, his hard blond communications director, said some words. “Tested”! “Florida”! “I think his focus is on increasing turnout”!

His friend Frank Guinta, the mayor of Manchester, chopped away at reporters. “What he has to do is finish—finish strong.” “Dropped crime rate by 70 percent.” “Cut taxes 23 times!” (I did not feel a reason to believe these numbers, given the campaign’s history of bad facts; Mr. Giuliani himself later said he cut taxes 15 to 20 times.) But did Mr. Giuliani feel bad about killing all those people during and after 9/11, one (sorta wingnut!) reporter wanted to know. “I do know he’s a tested, proven leader,” Mr. Guinta replied. A red blotch crawled from the right side of his neck to his cheek. .... ( read more )

Rudy Video: Hillary cry is about me and SEPT. 11!!!

John Riley
Spin Cycle
Newsday
January 8, 2008

We have noted, from time to time, that Rudy Giuliani has developed an enormous skill at relating every possible issue and every possible event to himself and Sept. 11. In today's installment, the subject is Hillary Clinton tearing up at a Portsmouth coffee shop yesterday:

Monday, January 7, 2008

Giuliani Abandons 9/11 Heroes

Cliff Schecter
Cliff Schecter's Blog
AlterNet
January 6, 2008

This is the real Rudy Giuliani. A man who wants to be President and has 9/11 Tourette's Syndrome.

Sadly, you already know much of the real story about The Real Rudy. That he chose to put his anti-terrorist command center in the only spot in New York City that had been hit by terrorists before, against the advice of every professional and his own people, because The World Trade Center was more convenient for him.

Furthermore, you're aware that his inaction in updating the radios used by firefighters who perished that day borders on the criminal. He knew the radios didn't work at least 8 years before that day, and when he finally chose to replace them, did so in grand Bushian style with a no-bid contract for radios that didn't work.

Yet, these were not even the worst aspects of Giuliani's 9/11 record. He completed this triumvirate of tragically inept behavior by ignoring the health of the very heroes who toiled day and night at Ground Zero after the attack. Nothing I could tell you here could prepare you for what you're about to watch--once healthy human beings now suffering from a range of illnesses that are a direct result of a toxic brew they inhaled in downtown Manhattan, while Rudy was telling them everything was safe and sound from his perch at Yankee Stadium and they were spending sleepless nights trying to save lives (often not wearing respirators because The Giuliani Adminstration ignored that federal requirement). ... ( read more )

Reexamining Rudy's Florida Strategy

Michael Scherer
Swampland
Time
January 6, 2008

For months now, the campaign of Rudy Giuliani has been trying to get America to stop paying attention. Don't worry about the former New York mayor's declining state and national polls. Don't mind the winners of the early contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina. Don't even focus too much on all the mayor's thin schedule or his stump speech, which is often flat, abbreviated and meandering.

All that matters, they argue, is the delegate math. Since the largest voting states begin going to the polls with the Florida primary on January 29, he believes that the current frenzies over Iowa and New Hampshire are beside the points. He figures if he can win Florida the rest of the Republican Party will close ranks behind him. So America's Mayor has effectively put all his hope for presidency in one state, where he will jet on Wednesday for another tour, which will continue over the weekend.

But as the months pass, it has become harder and harder to take Giuliani's strategy seriously, for two main reasons. First, even if he only needs to win Florida to set off a cascade to the nomination, he still must prove that he is a capable candidate, not just a well known leader. So far he has yet to show much evidence of this. He now sits in forth place in New Hampshire polls, behind Mike Huckabee and nearly tied with Ron Paul. He can argue all he wants that he has not fully committed to the state, but that won't change the fact that he has seriously campaigned here for months, including a spate of costly television ads and countless diner grab 'n grins. Nonetheless, the former New York mayor is on the verge of getting less votes in New England than a former southern Baptist pastor from Arkansas. That means something. ...

( read more )

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Ailing 9/11 Workers Confront Giuliani In New Hampshire

Sam Stein
The Huffington Post
January 5, 2008

Finishing a disappointing sixth in the Iowa caucus and staring down a similarly poor result in New Hampshire, Rudy Giuliani has yet another problem on his hand.

Before Saturday's GOP debate, several members of the 9/11 recovery effort will be stationed outside the forum petitioning the former New York City Mayor to discuss the mishandled health safety issues following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The protest coincides with and promotes a new short video by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films, which uses the testimony of these 9/11 workers to detail the dangerous conditions and serious illnesses encountered at the recovery site.

... ( read more )