The American Spectator

Political Hay

Being There

By Philip Klein on 9.14.07 @ 12:08AM

Rudy Giuliani's decision to participate in the Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony at Ground Zero on Tuesday generated controversy in all of the familiar places, with the New York Times preemptively editorializing that "the families' pain should not be a backdrop for a campaign commercial."

Even though the former mayor, who received widespread praise for his leadership on Sept. 11, had participated in every ceremony at Ground Zero since the fateful day, critics argued that simply because he was now running for president, he should decline an invitation to appear.

In the end, the remarks Giuliani delivered at the ceremony were brief and far from political. "On this day six years ago, and on the days that followed, in the midst of our great grief and turmoil, we also witnessed uncompromising strength and resilience as a people," he said. "It was a day with no answers, but with an unending line of those who came forward to try to help one another." He followed with a quote from Elie Wiesel.

Giuliani's presence at the ceremony was far less controversial among the general public than it was in the media. A USA Today/Gallup poll found that 92 percent of Americans believed it was appropriate for Giuliani to participate.

But the debate over his appearance raised questions about what role Sept. 11 should play in Giuliani's candidacy and what implications his direct connection to the Sept. 11 attacks has on the way he sees the world.

Liberal blogger and anti-Giuliani crusader Greg Sargent has attacked Giuliani repeatedly for "naked opportunism around 9/11." But this tactic is nothing new to liberals who seek to portray any mention of Sept. 11 by a Republican as evidence that the party is exploiting a tragedy.

The same criticisms were made in 2004, when the Republican National Convention was held in New York City. At the time, Giuliani defended the location of the convention, as well as making Sept. 11 an issue in the campaign. He told the New York Times that the terrorist attack was ''the single most significant event that has happened in the last four years, and is maybe one of the most important events in our history....So it has to be an issue in the election. Not discussing it would be like conducting an election for Abraham Lincoln and not discussing the Civil War.''

Giuliani has spent months talking about his record fighting crime, cutting taxes, and slashing welfare rolls as mayor of New York City and he has rolled out a list of 12 Commitments that include policy proposals on health care, spending, and energy. Despite this, many people still have the impression that he is running purely on Sept. 11, because that is how most Americans know him, and because he continues to argue that terrorism is the defining issue of this campaign.

Liberals clearly have an interest in changing the image Americans have of Giuliani as a strong leader during crisis because his high favorability ratings make him a threat in the general election. But beyond that, liberals benefit from an environment in which discussing the tragedy is seen as off limits. Giuliani irritates them because he is unapologetic about bringing up the issue.

"If we don't talk about Sept. 11, you can't prepare to try to avoid another Sept. 11," he said last week.

If there's one thing that Giuliani conveys when speaking about terrorism and Sept. 11 it is: it's personal.

"I was there when it happened, and I've been there every year since then," he said last week in Florida when defending his decision to attend Tuesday's ceremony. "If I didn't, it would be extremely unusual. As a personal matter, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

In an interview with the New York Times's Matt Bai, Giuliani, who lost friends in the attacks, said, "I guarantee you, there's nobody in this country who wants to catch Bin Laden more than I do....And it is personal." In his book Leadership, Giuliani recalls telling President Bush three days after Sept. 11, "If you catch this guy Bin Laden, I would like to be the one to execute him."

The emotion that Giuliani has over Sept. 11 was on full display in the presidential debate earlier this year when he responded with visceral anger to Ron Paul's suggestion that American foreign policy was to blame for the attacks.

One question voters will have to ask themselves when evaluating Giuliani as a presidential candidate is whether his personal connection to Sept. 11 is a good thing or a bad thing.

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