Giuliani’s collapse

During his tenure as mayor of New York, I was a huge fan of Giuliani. Liberals hated him, and there were certainly areas where he deserved criticism, but I was amazed by the positive changes in New York City.

Everything changed after 9/11. Sure, Giuliani exhibited grace under pressure, but the idea that his perfomance translated to real foreign experience was always ridiculous. The Giuliani image was just as hyped up as the fear being peddled by the Bush Administration.

Giuliani bought into the hype. He campaigned hard for George Bush in 2004, going so far as to make the most idiotic comparison in political history when he compared George Bush to Winston Churchill. At that point it became obvious to me that Giuliani either had no clue about what was right for America or he was just another cynical and self-interested politician who was latching on to the popular cause of the day.

Many are blaming his strange strategy regarding the primaries for his loss. Obviously, it was a dumb strategy, but the real problem was Giuliani and his positions. His support for the failed Bush policies and his non-stop references to 9/11 just didn’t cut it with an electorate that had been fooled twice by Bush. The revelations of his bizarre personal life didn’t help as well.

He’s a social liberal who was running in a party that catered to the religious right. He claimed he would appoint “strict-constructionist” judges, though he was never able to explain how this was consistent with his own positions. I never agree with the religious right, but I respect those in that camp who refused to support Giuliani. He wasn’t one of them and they didn’t believe his B.S.

Rudy was a flawed candidate, and I’m not surprised his support collapsed once the GOP voters took a closer look.