The Times Gives Rudy G. The Treatment
The Paper of Record says Rudy G. is laying the groundwork for a 2008 bid, but throws water on the fire simultaneously:
After four years of enjoying private life, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is taking several steps that could lay the groundwork for a presidential bid, strengthening alliances with Republicans nationwide and especially with conservative leaders of the party.
Mr. Giuliani’s advisers say he will decide around the end of the year whether to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2008.
It is a decision that will not be made easily: Mr. Giuliani believes that his support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control would make winning the nomination difficult, according to several friends and former City Hall aides. Some of those people, who were granted anonymity to describe conversations with the former mayor, say they have told him not to give up his comfortable new way of life for a campaign that might end in failure.
Yet Mr. Giuliani remains popular across the Republican spectrum because of his leadership during 9/11 — a role that many Americans were reminded of yesterday when he testified at the death penalty trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person to be tried in an American courtroom in connection with the attacks of Sept. 11.
Mr. Giuliani’s advisers are only now starting to talk openly about the outlines of a possible national bid, but they say he could enter the race at the start of 2007, or even later, and still assemble a team and raise tens of millions of dollars in a relatively short time.
Mr. Giuliani has been amassing political chits by raising money for candidates in politically important states, like California, Iowa, Michigan and New Jersey. He is buddying up to conservatives in tough re-election fights, like Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania; the two men are scheduled to attend a fund-raising event and campaign together in two weeks. Instead of raising money for himself, Mr. Giuliani is exerting his political muscle to help Republicans keep control of Congress this year, headlining a major fund-raising affair for Senate candidates in May.
So it’s the one step up, two steps back dance we’ve been commenting on for a while. Likewise, we already knew that Rudy was going to decide after the November elections.
At this point, I think it’s 70-30 split against Rudy running. My guess is he’ll watch McCain’s polling numbers, while continuing to raise funds for the Republicans so he has plenty of money contacts…but if McCain’s numbers hold up, Rudy will stand down. Should McCain’s stock fall, however, the lure may prove irrestible. He’s got the star power to be an instant front-runner – it’s just his bad (good?) luck to be up for scrutiny during John McCain’s Last Stand…
Thanks for posting this 2008 related story Mark. I’ve been itching for some 2008 speculation for the past couple of days now.
That said, I think The Times really did a poor job on this article. It added nothing new to the discussion at all. What I would like to have more info on is how exactly those handlers of Rudy’s who ARE encouraging him to run expect him to overcome the problems with his social views.
We know Rudy is going to raise money for fellow Republicans this year… We know that he is a good Republican… It would have been nice to perhaps gain a little insight into how they think Rudy COULD neutralize these issues with social conservatives.