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Strong and Poised
Although he's officially undecided about running, he's making plans like a candidate. In recent months he's raised lots of cash for the Republican Party. He's also campaigned for hardcore conservatives and spoken to evangelical groups like the Global Pastors Network, praising their accomplishments and reminding them of his own.Says Fred Siegel, a Progressive Policy Institute fellow, and author of the Giuliani biography The Prince of the City, "Giuliani rescued New York from decline. In 1993, crime in the city was out of control. Public spaces had been taken over by lowlifes. There was an evacuation mentality -- people wanted to sell their apartments and get out."
Through tough, innovative law enforcement, the mayor oversaw a steep drop in crime and forced the clean-up of New York's trash-strewn streets. Giuliani won praise for the stunning rejuvenation of Times Square, family-friendly after years of being overrun with porn shops and drug dealers. "He showed that New York was governable again," says Siegel.
But his tenure was also steeped in controversy. Civil rights leaders accused him of turning cops loose on minority neighborhoods: Police brutalization of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima became their Exhibit A. He was also regularly criticized for being harshly combative with those who opposed him, from union leaders to the education bureaucracy.
And then there was the unraveling of his personal life. After 16 years of marriage, he split from actress Donna Hanover, mother of his two kids, then ages 14 and 10. The breakup occurred months after gossip columnists had begun writing about his ill-concealed relationship with divorced nurse Judith Nathan, whom he married three years later, in 2003. At the same time, he announced that he was battling prostate cancer and would withdraw from New York's senatorial race.
Now cancer-free, Giuliani has emerged strong and poised to learn whether voters will overlook his contradictions in favor of his ability to lead. So far, that seems a possibility. In numerous polls of self-described Republicans this year, Giuliani ranks first or second as the Presidential nominee (vying with the party's presumed front-runner, Sen. John McCain). In polls of the general electorate, he edges out Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the leading choice of Democrats.
Why, then, would he hesitate to run? Though he's tough on law and order and knows how to cut budgets and lower taxes, socially conservative Republicans, who have a strong say in determining their party's nominee, disagree with him on his pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and pro-gun control positions. "We have probably irreconcilable differences on life and family," Rev. Jerry Falwell said in a recent television interview. "I couldn't support him for President." Neither, apparently, could Paul Weyrich, one of the bellwethers of the conservative movement, who calls Giuliani "quite unacceptable" as the nominee.
Giuliani's response is that the Republican Party needs to be a broad tent, embracing moderates like him, to stay in power. And, past a certain point, he doesn't concern himself with naysayers. In his book Leadership, he writes, "Occasionally your principles will differ from the official party line. True leadership requires choosing, in every instance, the position that allows you to sleep at night."
Come November 2008, the public will make a similar choice. In these disturbing times, which leader will help them sleep at night? For the voters, Rudy Giuliani has a story to tell: Remember 9/11.
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