Giuliani in New Hampshire

I spent Sunday on the second day of Mayor Giuliani’s bus tour across New Hampshire. We were in Nashua, Hudson, Salem and Hampton. During one particularly surreal stretch, I was in the back of a pick-up truck riding in Salem’s Christmas Parade. It was odd to drive by kids expecting to see Old St. Nick only to find a bunch of reporters with note-books.

I give a lot of credit to David Broder, who also made the climb into the pick-up. When you see a guy like Broder on the Sunday morning shows, you have to realize there’s much, much more there than a guy who can talk about politics off-the-cuff. He has a deep knowledge of American politics. And he is still working it. All the reporters gave him a tremendous amount of respect. He deserves it.

As for Giuliani, he was energized.But it was a strange day. Like everybody in New Hampshire, he was heavily managed. But this has gone a bit too far. In 2000, Bush was criticized for his inaccessibility to the press, in contrast to John McCain, who gabbed with reporters constantly, but at least the then-Texas governor did at least one set-piece press conference or availability a day. Nowadays, few of the candidates, Democrats or Republicans, even do that.

At one point, the campaign even brought Paul Cellucci onto the bus to answer questions, an act that drew eye-rolls and groans from the press corps. Cellucci called Romney’s earlier anti-Giuliani tirade a “Mitt Fit,” which I found to be a pretty good line.To me, the substance of the day was Giuliani’s attempt to exploit the opening created by one of Mitt Romney’s judges freeing a convicted murder who went on to murder a couple in Washington State. Here’s my piece in the Sun.  The spectacle of Giuliani’s campaign bus blaring Christmas music as the mayor ran from sidewalk to sidewalk was the kind of color that makes the New Hampshire primary great. Also great was this quote from a spectator clad in a Veterans of Foreign Wars jacket, David Thompson about the Massachusetts judge. “I’m not in favor of that at all. These judges are too damn liberal.”  

Giuliani: A Red Sox Fan?

I was at the Boston press conference where Rudy Giuliani announced his support for the Boston Red Sox. To me, Giuliani’s enough of a fan that he must actually have come up with the rationale on his own; that is, that he supports the American League team. He probably said that because he’s familiar with the Red Sox. I know, for instance, that back when the Yankees used to make it into the World Series, I was much more knowledgeable about their players than those of, say, the Arizona Diamondbacks. But that didn’t mean I “rooted” for them.

Personally, I don’t really support the old saw I root for the Red Sox and whoever is playing the Yankees. I root for the Red Sox, and when they’re done, which is not now thankfully, I watch the Patriots. Giuliani’s answer was so silly that it actually had to come out of his own head. The problem could have been corrected if the Giuliani people had had media staff on hand a little earlier in the day. While most reporters won’t provide full disclosure on what their interest is, my old press staff probably would have been able to discern that the t.v. people in Boston would be pretty interested in the World Series. Giuliani’s press people rolled in with him on the plane, which I think prevented them from anticipating adequately the public mood.

Giuliani also entered a subject that has been of great interest to me over the years, Romney’s contributions to the local Republican Party. No one living Republican is more responsible for the resurgence of the state GOP in the 1990s, who helped grow it along the lines of Ray Shamie than Joe Malone. Malone’s endorsement of Giuliani said a lot in that regard, particularly his decision to stand next to Paul Cellucci, whom he battled in 1998. Giuliiani then pushed things a bit too far when he boasted that he was replaced by a Republican.

My New York Sun news story gets into the reasons why.

The Catholic Vote in 2008

In an election where most of the attention has been on the Evangelical vote, the group that could help determine the result in the general contest is American Catholics.

Many American Catholics reside in the industrial heartland’s swing states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. They could make the difference for November 2008. In 2000, Vice President Gore barely edged out President Bush for the backing of Catholic voters. In 2004, President Bush beat Senator Kerry for the Catholic vote by 52 to 47.

In a recent Sun column, I spoke to both to two former local political figures who supported George W. Bush in 2000, former mayor Ray Flynn and former governor Paul Cellucci.

At the time, Mr. Flynn, who was president of the Washington-based Catholic Alliance, said he felt abandoned by the Democratic Party on a variety of issues, including trade, health care, and abortion. Now, Mr. Flynn, who travels around the country speaking to Catholic groups, says he senses his co-religionists returning to the fold. While the unpopularity of the war in Iraq is clearly an issue, also important are traditional economic issues that have moved Catholic voters in the past. “Right now, the so-called Reagan Democrat, they’re going Democrat,” Mr. Flynn, speaking from Rome, said. “Health care, education, human rights — these issues are so compelling in this election that they’re voting Democrat.”

Cellucci says he sees Mr. Giuliani’s success among Catholic voters in New York City as a foreshadowing of what will happen in a presidential election. “I think that part of the voting population of which I’m obviously a member of is looking for a strong leader, somebody who’s going to keep America on offense against terror,” Mr. Cellucci says. “One of the things that will be important is the record the mayor had in cleaning up New York City. Forty-second Street was pretty sleazy and turned it into a place where families could go.” Mr. Cellucci adds that many Italian-Americans, a group that tends to be Democratic, he says, “are going to vote for Rudy.”

New Hampshire Primary and World Series

Attention Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Here’s a potentially profitable idea for you.

The best investment any political candidate could make right now would to buy local time on Fox-25, the Murdoch-owned station that has the New England broadcast rights to the Boston Red Sox-Colorado Rockies World Series.

Never before has the New Hampshire primary so close to a Red Sox World Series appearance. The first two games will have huge viewership throughout the Granite State. If candidates want to make sure that New Hamsphire voters get their message, there’s no better buy than Red Sox time.

Republican Debate in Michigan

Here’s my take on last night’s debate in Michigan. I saw it as a good night for Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. While Fred Thompson showed up, his performance fell below expectations

Thompson, Romney, Giuliani Will Compete on Economic Policy

The big story at tonight’s Republican debate in Dearborn, Michigan is not just the first appearance of Fred Thompson in a debate, which seems to be the prevailing story-line. By the time the general election is held in November, 2008, one way or another, the Iraq War will have receded somewhat as a political issue. At this point, the economy, I believe, will be a central issue. The G.O.P candidates will provide their perspectives on the economy tonight.

Mitt Romney needs to have a big night and he can. Not only is Romney the son of a former Michigan governor and c.e.o. of American Motors, he is the only candidate in the race with a record of creating jobs in the private sector. There’s no question that Romney was a disappointment in Massachusetts as far as being a c.e.o. who could recruit other business executives to come to Massachusetts, but it’s also true that he never invested the time necessary to do this. I did see him, along with Mayor Menino, personally lobby representatives of Virgin Airlines to headquarter their new domestic airlines in Boston. Still, economic issues should be Romney’s sweet spot.

John McCain delivered a speech to the Detroit Economic Club. He’s trying to get into the anti-tax act:

“Unfortunately, we find ourselves at a time when the U.S. economy is growing more slowly than anyone would like. As you are well aware, conditions in Michigan are even tougher, with the state suffering through one of the most severe recessions since World War II.

Tough times can breed fear, and Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are using those fears to push an agenda that is tired, dangerous, and will rob us of economic freedom. Once again, they want the government to make our choices for us – not respect our dreams, and trust our decisions on how best to seize our opportunities. “

As for Rudy Giuliani, I don’t believe you can separate his mayoral leadership from the economic boom New York enjoyed in the 1990s.

Read more here.

Giuliani and Terrorism

Time Magazine has a new story out that maintains that Rudy Giuliani is inflating his experience on terrorism. In it, the magazine makes the following claim: “An analysis of 80 of Giuliani’s major speeches from 1993 to 2001 shows that he mentioned the danger of terrorism only once, in a brief reference to emergency preparedness.”

I can’t pass judgment on the story’s assertion that Giuliani’s claim to have studied terrorism for 30 years is false as the magazine suggests. But I can unequivocally state that Giuliani mentioned terrorism more than once.

From 1995 to 1997 I was a New York-based reporter for the Forward, a national Jewish weekly. This was before I was transferred to Washington. My beat was the city’s bevy of local and national Jewish groups. I didn’t blink when Giuliani made that assertion on the campaign trail because I heard him speak about terrorism with some frequency during the 1990s. I remember Giuliani speaking about terrorism on the two specific occasions:

The first was when Giuliani ejected Arafat, who had gone from being regarded as a terrorist prior to the signing of the Oslo Accords to a hero, from a United Nations reception at Lincoln Center. Here’s what UPI reported Giuliani, who referenced Arafat’s role in the terrorist slaying of Leon Klinghoffer in 1985, as saying: “‘I would not invite Yasser Arafat to anything, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,’ Giuliani told the Times. Giuliani said he was unable to forget the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s legacy of terrorism. The mayor, a former federal prosecutor, said he personally investigated terrorist acts that, he says, were later linked to the PLO, including the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. A wheelchair-bound New Yorker who talked back to his captors was pushed overboard in that incident. ‘He had no right to be there,’ Giuliani said. ‘And I think it was a good thing that he left…I would rather not have anyone who has been implicated in the murders of Americans there, if I had the discretion not to have him there.’ ”

It’s possible that this didn’t come up in a prepared speech, but it dominated New York’s newspapers for days, which is how mayors in New York make news. He, in fact, took heat for it. And, I’m not sure I’m remembering this correctly, but I think the reason Giuliani invoked Klinghoffer, was that he studied the possibility of prosecuting Arafat during the 1980s, which, while not 30 years ago, is more than 20.

The second time I know Giuliani talked about terrorism was in 1997. Giuliani made remarks after meeting with members of the city’s Jewish Community Relations Council. I was there. The meeting room was packed, far more crowded than usual. Giuliani came out and announced to a hushed room that an arrest had been made in Brooklyn of a Middle Easterner who had plotted to blow up targets, including subways, in the city.

Then Giuliani launched into at least a twenty minute address about the danger of terrorism in New York and around the world. I remember this as being a somewhat extemporaneous speech, but Giuliani spoke with eloquence and coherence. He spoke about the practice of suicide bombing in general and talked of the spate of bombings Israel had experienced the previous year. (I didn’t write this up at the tim because the speech came at the end of one news cycle and the start of another. It wouldn’t have been fresh in a weekly. I will try to find the brief.)

Giuliani’s record is certainly fair game. But this is one claim that flies in the face of my time covering him.

Giuliani’s Uptick

“The Rochester town meeting capped off a two-day visit to the Granite State. While somewhat off the beaten path, Rochester has a population of about 30,000, which makes it worthy of political attention.

The visit by the former mayor of New York City could mark the beginning of a building momentum for his candidacy in New Hampshire. Until now, Mr. Giuliani has laid back somewhat from spending the kind of time and energy necessary to win over voters in a state used to lots of personal contact with candidates.

Last week, he began running radio advertisements here. He also distributed a flyer via direct mail outlining his ” twelve commitments to the American People,” which have become planks in his stump speech, and brandished a laminated card with the twelve commitments prior to a speech in Wolfeboro, N.H.

While Mitt Romney, a former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, has been leading in most polls, an American Research Group survey released yesterday put Mr. Giuliani one point ahead in New Hampshire, 27% to 26%. The same poll said support for Senator McCain had plummeted to 10% from 21%.” Read more here.

Giuliani In Romney’s House

One of the highlights to Rudolph Giuliani’s two-day visit to New Hampshire was his foray into Wolfeboro, the summer resort town that is home to Giuliani’s Republican rival Mitt Romney. I stopped Giuliani, who had just purchased a cup of toffee ice cream and was in the midst of meeting and greeting more than 100 people. I asked him what message his visit sent to Romney, who had been spotted on Lake Winnipesaukee one day previously in a t-shirt and shorts.

“None, other than New Hampshire is real important to us,” Mr. Giuliani said, ice cream in hand. “We want to win in New Hampshire. We think we can win in New Hampshire.” Giuliani added that his status as a national candidate gave him an additional advantage.

“We also think I’m the candidate for the Republican Party who can win back a lot of the Northeast and a lot of the West. We have to be competitive in every state and I think I have the best chance of doing that,” he said. “Every poll shows that, and I think most people know that. We have to be able to win in New Hampshire. … We’ve got to have a 50-state campaign, and at this point I’m the only Republican candidate who can come close to having a 50-state campaign.”

Read more here.

Giuliani Enters Spitzer-Bruno Fray

I am up in New Hampshire covering Rudolph Giuliani. There has been lots of news today. Of most interest to my New York readers is this news. The big story of out New York are the continued shockwaves surrounding the disclosure that the office of Governor Eiliot Spitzer may have improperly used the State Police to obtain information about the Republican Senate leader, Joseph Bruno. Today, Giuliani told me he supported a probe of the matter with subpoena power.

The broader issue for my local readers is how far Spitzer, who came out of the box like gangbusters, has fallen, in contrast to Deval Patrick, who started poorly and since then has come on strong. Part of that’s a testament to Patrick’s personnel changes, such as bringing in Joe Landolfi and Doug Rubin. But it also demonstrates how self-confident administration’s can bring problems on themselves.

Also of interest is Giuliani’s day of campaigning in the (tourist rich, voter poor) Lake Region. I’ll post on that first thing in the morning.