Oh-eight (R): Rudy returns to NYC
Posted: Friday, December 21, 2007 9:15 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Republicans
Giuliani, Huckabee and McCain are locked in a three-way tie in a national FOX News/Opinion Dynamics poll. The numbers: Giuliani 21%, Huckabee and McCain 19%, Romney 11%, Thompson 10%.
GIULIANI: The NYT tries -- and fails -- to get more details on Giuliani's condition.
The New York Daily News caught up with him at his NYC condo late last night, where he told reporters: "Thank you all for waiting. We're gonna go straight to bed now and sleep late tomorrow. We'll probably take the day off, check our schedule and then continue campaigning." The paper adds that he spoke in a slightly "raspy voice."
More: “Privately, advisers said the former mayor was simply rundown after a grueling few weeks of travel that culminated with a particularly long day Wednesday, when plane trouble forced Giuliani to squeeze an unplanned, two-hour drive into his day. A nagging bug got progressively worse, and he felt so ill aloft that he decided to seek medical help right away instead of enduring another two-hour plane ride back to New York. Once at the hospital, aides said, it was inevitable that a high-profile patient like Giuliani was going to get a full workup.”
The New York Post: “In 2000, just before he was to face Hillary Rodham Clinton in a race for the US Senate, Giuliani announced he had prostate cancer and dropped out. As he underwent cancer treatment, he slowed down his pace - a bit. Giuliani's latest illness comes amid an ailing week for the campaign.”
Here's a story that could become trouble for Giuliani if he's the nominee (unless he's facing Clinton): "Giuliani's decision to commandeer his historical records in late 2001, as he prepared to leave office, was just one of many episodes during his term, both in and out of the courtroom, that demonstrate his efforts to control, withhold or massage information to advance his agenda and hobble critics. The litany of questions Giuliani has faced in recent weeks about undisclosed business clients and furtive billing practices for police security during trysts with then-girlfriend Judith Nathan are reminiscent of the dozens of lawsuits filed by news organizations to obtain public records, of the numerous state Freedom of Information Law requests that nonprofits like the Coalition for the Homeless were forced to file, of access to City Hall steps denied to protesters.”
“At times, the number of working water fountains in city parks was hard to ascertain without making a formal request. Under Giuliani, it became more difficult to determine the number of complaints filed against the city's home care program, the number of firearms discharged by police and the number of inspectors in the housing and buildings departments. Even details about the city's recycling program were hard to come by."
HUCKABEE: Salon's Walter Shapiro compares Huckabee’s populist rhetoric to Edwards.' This will be a comparison that will deserve re-visiting if both win Iowa. Will it mean that the populist Midwest streak is back?
By the way, is this Day Three or Day Four of Huckabee having to defend himself over his Christmas ad? Both the New York Times and the Washington Post use the faith issue to delve into whether Huckabee is over-selling his faith to win voters. The Washington Post even has an editorial lambasting Huckabee for the Christmas ad.
MCCAIN: Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker released this statement yesterday: "It is unfortunate that rumor and gossip enter into political campaigns. John McCain has a 24-year record of serving this country with honor and integrity. He has never violated the public trust, never done favors for special interests or lobbyists, and he will not allow a smear campaign to distract from the important issues facing our country. "Americans are sick and tired of this kind of gutter politics. John McCain is the most experienced and prepared to lead as commander and chief, and he will continue to run a positive campaign on the issues."
McCain lawyer Robert Bennett “said he sent prepared answers yesterday to written questions submitted by New York Times reporters who have spent weeks investigating questions about whether the senator did favors for a Washington lobbyist or her clients. She has also retained a lawyer, according to a knowledgeable source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing legal matters.”
The candidate nabs the Boston Herald’s endorsement for a clean sweep of the major Boston papers.
The Des Moines Register profiles the Arizona Republican. McCain “has risen to national prominence with a reputation as a politician who does it his own way.”
McCain is up with a Christmas ad, and the campaign “said the ad was shot quickly and put up on the air yesterday as a result of positive response the campaign received from a mailer telling the same story that arrived in mail boxes this week.”
PAUL: The AP writes the Ron Paul-as-spoiler story.
ROMNEY: Apparently Romney's father did NOT march with MLK as he has claimed previously. "Romney said his father had told him he had marched with King and that he had been using the word ‘saw’ in a ‘figurative sense.’ ‘If you look at the literature, if you look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of in the sense I've described,’ Romney told reporters in Iowa. ‘It's a figure of speech and very familiar, and it's very common. And I saw my dad march with Martin Luther King. I did not see it with my own eyes, but I saw him in the sense of being aware of his participation in that great effort."
“But historical evidence, including news accounts at the time, shows that George Romney never marched with King, though he supported King's agenda."
No word if Romney plans to reach out to Al Gore for advice on how to handle a potential feeding frenzy on something like this. Speaking of… The AP looks at Romney backpedaling on various statements, including his hunting claims, seeing his father march with Martin Luther King Jr., an NRA endorsement he never received, having wept while in law school after blacks were given full privileges in the Mormon Church in 1978. But he graduated from law school actually three years earlier.
The Des Moines Register has a clip this morning about a working class GOPer who is worried the GOP field is too "affluent." The Republican asked Romney about his ability to relate to her problems. Reading this account, it doesn't sound like Romney satisfied this woman.
TANCREDO: Tancredo made it official and withdrew from the race -- and he threw his support behind Romney. “The cause that vaulted the Colorado congressman into the race illegal immigration also motivated him to abandon his pursuit of the nomination, Tancredo said. His continued presence in an election he could not win, he said, may have helped the campaigns of Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. John McCain candidates Tancredo says are soft on immigration.” More: “Tancredo claimed victory on the immigration issue, arguing that his stance in favor of strict enforcement forced the entire Republican field to move toward his position.”
The Des Moines Register’s Yepsen writes Tancredo’s obit and says his endorsement of Romney “provides Romney with an important boost at a critical juncture in the campaign.”
THOMPSON: Is Rep. Steve King what the doctor ordered for the easy-going Thompson? “The outspoken King, one of the loudest critics in Congress of illegal immigration, provided a fiery vanguard for Thompson's campaign, giving stirring introductions for the candidate and escorting him around King's northwest Iowa congressional district.”
