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November 17, 2007
Swiftboating 2.0?
It is hardly a secret that New York City firefighters do not like former mayor and current presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. From failing to provide them radios they say would have saved lives on 9/11, to stopping their recovery effort at Ground Zero, to trumpeting his "leadership" during that terrible tragedy as his primary qualification for being president, Rudy has made bitter enemies of FDNY.
And just days after Swift Boat Veteran funder T.Boone Pickens laid down a $1 million challenge to anyone who could disprove even one of the Swift Boaters charges -- a challenge readily accepted by John Kerry -- there are inklings that a new Swift Boat-like effort may be afoot.
This time, however, the target will be a GOP presidential candidate -- Giuliani -- and NY firefighters will be the attackers. (Note: we have long suspected such an effort would oocur; it was merely a matter of when, not if.) The 2008 campaign, much as the 2004 one did to Kerry, would attack Rudy's central rationale for his candidacy - that his efforts in the wake of 9/11 demonstrated his readiness to be president.
Many Americans have vague, positive feelings about Giuliani because of his ubiquitous media presence after September 11th. Polling has shown, however, that general public opinions about Rudy, while positive, are not particularly well formed or deeply held. In other words, folks don't know much about him, and tend to like him less the more they find out.
Watch for a 527, or some similar organization to form in the near future. Wonder if Mitt Romney might pitch in a few bucks?
Posted by houtopia at November 17, 2007 10:31 PM