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The country largely knows him for his managing of the 9-11 crisis in the city . He goes beyond that and demonstrates that NYC was well managed while he was Mayor (and that is no easy task) .
The issue of competent management will most likely be a key issue in next year's race . The only other candidates in the Republican field who can claim this issue favorably would be Mitt Romney in the business world ,and perhaps Mike Huckabee . But Rudy's claim to adherence to conservative fiscal philosophy is his strength over the others .
Rudy is beginning to separate himself from the pack ,and it looks like the Fred Thompson challenge is unfortunately fizzling before it begins.
But if private life issues comes into play this election cycle Rudy is in for some rough sailing .
...it looks like the Fred Thompson challenge is unfortunately fizzling before it begins.
I'm not quite sure why you make this statement. I really wish that Thompson would announce already, but I have no reason to believe that interest in him as a candidate has faltered to any great degree. Have I missed some big news?
I hope I'm wrong .My support will go to the candidate I think can best beat Hillary.
RCP average shows a slight decline in Thompson's polling with Rudy and Romney rising and McCain plummeting .
There is a perception that Thompson does not put out the effort. I do not know if it is fair or not ;but it didn't help when he was cruising the Iowa State Fair in a golf cart looking old and frail. He should've been up greeting , pumping the hand of everyone and showing enthusiasm for what he was doing.
But I said that comment primarily because his campaign appears to be disorganized.
Reports say that his grass roots internet fund raising is not getting it done and he is falling behind the other candidates . This primary season is weird this year and I do not think there is time to build momentum. You have to go into the primaries with the momentum already.
Bob Novak reported that when he eventually announces it is essential that he come over as dynamic in his debate debut. The problem is that no one knows when his first debate will be . He was supposed to attend the Sept. 5 one at the U.of NH but now he may postpone until the Sept. 27 debate at Morgan State U. in Baltimore . Whichever one it is he had better knock em out or he will not get the funding needed.
Yesterday the Politico reported about another defection from his campaign.
This is not the 1st high level defection. But on the positive side ,Howard Baker and Mary Matlin are presumably still in his camp......and who knows which wagon Karl Rove will hitch up with ??? .
tom, at this stage I'm still betting Rudy will be the nominee and I have no problem with that. I think he has the best chance of beating Hillary, even though I'm still intrigued by Thompson.
You know the speculation seems is that Rove will hitch up with Thompson, but I'm not so sure that's a good thing for anyone's campaign right now. I'm sure the left and the media will immediately and relentlessly crucify any candidate that takes him on. But then again I don't know how that would be any different the way they'll treat any other GOP candidate. As you've noticed they're not too kind to Giuliani.
On the stump in Iowa, he said he wants "to give the maximum degree of privacy" to his children. "If you want the press to leave the children alone," Giuliani said, "the best way to do it is not to comment." What he meant was that if a candidate wants the press to ignore his messy personal life—including facts that might shock even the 50 percent of Americans who are divorced—the way to do it is to label any examination of it an "out-of-bounds" intrusion. And if using the vulnerability of his children will help insulate him from examination, this father is ready to show that he really does know best, especially when it comes to protecting himself.
That’s why he’s said: “Judge me by my public performance—whatever mistakes I’ve made in my personal life, I’m sorry for them.” It’s a laughable dichotomy, as if one’s personal and professional lives are wholly separable, as if blowing up an 18-year marriage rather than finding a way to end it reasonably says nothing about how a presidential prospect might handle a squabble with Congress. New Yorkers, of course, know that Rudy’s self-absorbed humiliation of his wife Donna Hanover—informing her that he wanted a divorce on television, inviting the press to a “walking my baby back home” stroll over Mother’s Day weekend with newly announced girlfriend Judi Nathan—was utterly consistent with the in-your-face way he governed. His lawyer and friend Raoul Felder called Donna an “uncaring mother” over that Mother’s Day weekend in 2000, said she was “howling like a stuck pig,” and accused her of “clinging to the chandeliers” in Gracie Mansion. For those used to the tone that Giuliani applied to enemies large and small at City Hall, it was clear that Felder was merely a bullhorn for his client.
Why are the following samples from the Caroline grievance list irrelevant to the character test we apply to our presidential candidates?
And I thought their private lives were nobody's business. Does this mean we now have the go ahead to apply character tests to Democrats?
The Clinton's get a pass even from Republicans. One of them (I forget who ) praised the Clintoons for at least staying together and raising Chelsea. Other Republicans like McCain and Gingrich praise her competence in public forums.
You would never see a Democrat doing the reciprocal .
Rudy is vulnerable and they will continue to pound away on his personal life.
No doubt. He seems to be handling it well, though.
Quote:
Giuliani's remarks came in response to a question at the town hall meeting by a woman who asked how he could "expect the loyal following of Americans when you are not getting it within your own family."
His answer received applause from the audience of about 200 people.
"Whatever the issues of my private life, it obviously doesn't affect my public performance. I functioned very effectively as mayor of New York City, to such an extent that I had results that nobody else ever had," he said. "I would ask people to look at it that way. I think we have a much more honest kind of analysis of what we need in public office if we did it that way."
I've touched on this before, but what I fear may happen is the religious right is going to go into anti-Giuliani convulsions instead of getting behind what may be the best chance to keep Hillary out. I hope I'm wrong.
The base better get used to the idea that their perfect candidate aint there . Perhaps when all is said and done competence will be the deciding issue rather than basal concerns .
I've touched on this before, but what I fear may happen is the religious right is going to go into anti-Giuliani convulsions instead of getting behind what may be the best chance to keep Hillary out. I hope I'm wrong.
In this case, I think you are wrong, at least partly enough to allow Guiliani to still carry an election. The religious wing of the Republican party is still very strong, but their distaste for the Democratic hopefuls outweighs their distaste for Guiliani's "indiscretions." They may hold their noses, but they will pull the lever. For the relisious wing of the Party, it will be a vote against the Dems as much as a vote for Rudy.
Good suppositions. I wonder if Christian Republicans would risk being known as hypocrites for supporting Rudy?! Giuliani has stated he is Pro-Choice and Pro-Gay rights.
As noted ... Rudy is riding on the platform of competence ;basic conservative fiscal principles ,and tough as nails foreign policy especially regarding the "war on us" by jihadistan.
Where he seperates from the base on specific social issues he argues that he will appoint judges in the Roberts and Scalia mold and that the executive really doesn't have much more influence than that anyway. He may have a point.