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November 28, 2007
Rudy's Travel Problem
Slowly but surely, the internecine warfare amongst the presidential candidates is escalating. Today, Rudy Giuliani is the subject of an unflattering story reported by Ben Smith at Politico, claiming that, while Mayor, he billed substantial security detail for personal travel -- much of it when his extramarital affair with Judith Nathan blossomed -- to New York City taxpayers. Ouch.
Much has been made of Rudy's marital failings, his wicked temper, and his occasional poor choices in friends and associates, but he has repeatedly asked Americans to look past these personal foibles and concentrate on his record of accomplishment as Mayor of New York City, particularly in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. This story attacks his central argument for electing him president at its core.
The notion that taxpayers had to foot the bill for his security detail while he trapsed off to the Hamptons to cheat on his wife, and that he then tried to hide the expenses in the balance sheets of obscure city departments is, to put it charitably, not helpful to his presidential aspirations. In fact, if the allegations are proven true, this revelation could harden what is now a vague discomfort with Rudy's moral compass and personal judgment into downright distrust of and digust with "America's Mayor."
According to the piece, Giuliani's people have known about the story (about which they conveniently had no comment) for several days, which may explain Rudy's preemptive attacks on fellow GOP competitor Mitt Romney, about which we wrote on Monday. No wonder Giuliani felt like he'd had enough of being attacked!
With his polling numbers headed in the wrong direction of late, this is hardly the kind of coverage Rudy wants just weeks before GOP primary voting begins. To his rivals, of course, the timing is perfect. Watch for more attempted dismantling of Giuliani's image in the coming days, and you can bet Rudy will hit back. We will be watching especially to see if he can keep his famous temper in check at public events. To date, he has done a good job of maintaining a much softer public persona, but stress does funny things to people.
Rudy, for his part, is so far silent on this little "travelgate" story. Can you blame him?
Posted by houtopia at November 28, 2007 05:17 PM