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The Spectacle Blog
Over at The Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol tells us that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is planning another run at the White House:
Rudy’s message: I’m tough enough to put our fiscal house in order and to protect us from enemies abroad. The U.S. in 2012 is in bad shape-like New York in 1993. The budget crisis is as severe-and seemingly intractable-as the crime/welfare crisis was in New York then. Rudy dealt with that when people said it couldn’t be done. He’ll deal with this.
Isn’t his abysmal 2008 campaign a disqualifier? Rudy’s answer: Consider the New York parallel. Rudy lost to David Dinkins in 1989, making several unforced errors and running without a focused message. In 1993, as the streets of New York plunged into crisis, Rudy ran a disciplined campaign pledging to turn the city around. He won, and in a disciplined first term, he governed successfully.
Well, anyone who walks through Times Square without fear of being accosted has Giuliani to thank. His achievements were tangible and they have endured. Giuliani changed New York City for the better. However, Obama isn’t a milquetoast like Dinkins. Obama plays for keeps. Why else would he pick a DNC Chair who does not hesitate to liken Republicans to Jim Crow? The problem with the “New York parallel” is that Giuliani is applying it to a Chicago politician. I like Rudy but I’m not sure if he is up for this fight.
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More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/08/does-obama-equal-dinkins
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Greta| 6.9.11 @ 12:09AM
As long as Rudi is pro abortion, he has no real chance as a Republican. If his strategy is to win the nomination by focusing on pro abortion states, then he has to find a way to win all of them in the natinal election because social conservatives will simply not vote for president when both are pro abortion and the republican party may never get them back. If anything spurs a third party movement it will be a pro abortion republican nominee.
Bob K.| 6.9.11 @ 12:21AM
It's not just conservatives who won't vote for him. He is Catholic and he will lose Catholic Reagan Democrats too.
What plays well in NYC doesn't necessarily sell in "fly over country."
Marc Escobar| 6.9.11 @ 1:24AM
That is as concise as I can be in attempting to offer you an explanation between the two. I am a Union Rep.
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PattyMor| 6.9.11 @ 8:24AM
If Rudy were a social conservative, he would have a chance. Without it, he's doomed. He can't make it through the southern primaries. National polls mean nothing. Its a state by state accumulation of delegates.
JimH| 6.9.11 @ 8:29AM
I’ll credit Rudy with hiring an able chief of police. Of course he then fired him when people actually started crediting the chief rather than the mayor with the reduction in crime. One wonders what he has thinking by having the city emergency management center put in the WTC. I have heard reports; perhaps others can confirm or refute the claim that on 09/11 hizzoner was a bit of an emotional wreck and it was thanks to the leadership of the police and fire depts. that the crisis was handled as well as it was. Of course more live may have been saved if the firemen and police had better radios. I think he also has too much personal baggage to appeal to the SocCons, with several divorces, one of them rather messy. In an aside on Mayor Dinkins, yes he was incompetent but at least he had a personal dignity about him which the One could do well to emulate. I lived in NYC until just before 9/11 so I have a bit of first hand experience.
Steve M.| 6.9.11 @ 6:30PM
He has no chance. Pro-abortion, 3 marriages and a New Yorker. Middle americans have never liked New Yorkers. New York is the center of money and banking and of the super rich. They look down on "fly-over people" and we don't appreciate their attitude.
I just visited New York and Times Square. Give the man credit for creating BILLIONS of dollars of tourist money by cleaning up Times Square and the City. Times Square was clean and I saw only one beggar and one crazy person in two days. We took the "1" subway and felt completely safe. We also had only one rude service person.
JimH| 6.11.11 @ 7:00AM
I posted this reply a few days earlier to an another blog. I serves here as well: I’ll credit Rudy with hiring an able chief of police. Of course he then fired him when people actually started crediting the chief rather than the mayor with the reduction in crime. One wonders what he has thinking by having the city emergency management center put in the WTC. I have heard reports; perhaps others can confirm or refute the claim that on 09/11 hizzoner was a bit of an emotional wreck and it was thanks to the leadership of the police and fire depts. that the crisis was handled as well as it was. Of course more lives may have been saved if the firemen and police had better radios. I think he also has too much personal baggage to appeal to the SocCons, with several divorces, one of them rather messy. I lived in NYC until just before 9/11 so I have a bit of first hand experience.