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I recall visiting New York City for the first time about eight years ago. I was working in the greater Washington D.C. area (meaning Reston, VA!) and a good friend prevailed on me to make the trip.

As a small-town southern boy, I was frankly terrified in anticipation. I'd grown up on a steady diet of cop shows on television and comic books that portrayed NYC as a concrete jungle with terror lying in wait around every corner.

Imagine my surprise when I drove into town and found that walking around Brooklyn and Manhattan was significantly less fearsome than the same stroll through downtown Atlanta. Way fewer panhandlers, too. I've never been panhandled less in any major city than in NYC. We're talking zero in my two visits there, versus about twenty times in a recent trip to Vancouver.

I remember thinking on that trip to the city and on a subsequent venture to a hotel in Times Square, "This is Rudy Giuliani's New York. This guy is a leader."

When it comes to a president, ideology isn't everything. As long as Rudy is a little right of the democrat, I'll support him.

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