Ain’t no sunshine for Rudy Giuliani in the Sunshine State, where he had campaigned for months. On Election Day, Florida voters told Giuliani to get lost.
Giuliani’s defeat will bring a smile to the faces of New Yorkers who can’t stand the sight of his smug mug.
For months, New Yorkers questioned the sanity of respondents who had Giuliani riding high in national polls. But it was Giuliani who was nuts to think he could ride 9/11 to the Oval Office.
If keeping one’s cool under extreme pressure is a test of leadership, then the keys to the White House should be turned over to New York’s Bravest. Like millions of New Yorkers, firefighters loathe “America’s Mayor.” (Memo to America: You can have him.)
On the eve of the primary, Giuliani called for civility and an end to the “name-calling.” How quaint coming from such a “nasty man” that the New York Times ripped him a new one:
The real Mr. Giuliani, whom many New Yorkers came to know and mistrust, is a narrow, obsessively secretive, vindictive man who saw no need to limit police power. Racial polarization was as much a legacy of his tenure as the rebirth of Times Square.
Mr. Giuliani’s arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking. When he claims fiscal prudence, we remember how he ran through surpluses without a thought to the inevitable downturn and bequeathed huge deficits to his successor. He fired Police Commissioner William Bratton, the architect of the drop in crime, because he couldn’t share the limelight. He later gave the job to Bernard Kerik, who has now been indicted on fraud and corruption charges.
The Rudolph Giuliani of 2008 first shamelessly turned the horror of 9/11 into a lucrative business, with a secret client list, then exploited his city’s and the country’s nightmare to promote his presidential campaign.
Hey Rudy, thy name is Loser.
