HIM AGAIN?…. Some people run for president, come up short, but nevertheless see their stature enhanced by the process. For Rudy Giuliani, it was the opposite — his fairly ridiculous and spectacularly unsuccessful presidential campaign diminished his reputation and turned him into something of a joke. Indeed, Giuliani entered the 2008 presidential campaign with a 9/11 halo and widespread admiration, and quickly found he had nowhere to go but down. The more Americans saw of Giuliani, the less they liked him.
But, for whatever reason, Giuliani not only finds himself credible, but is apparently eyeing a gubernatorial campaign.
As part of the effort, the former NYC mayor is putting himself back into the spotlight, talking up Fox News, and writing pieces for the New York Times about how the state government should run.
New York state government is not working. This has been true for some time. But the paralysis and confusion that has overtaken the capital demonstrates the need to confront this dysfunction directly and take decisive steps to solve it once and for all. That’s why I’m calling on Albany to convene a state constitutional convention. […]
Calling another convention would be an extraordinary step, but it is a necessary and effective way to overcome the challenges we face. It would be an opportunity for Republicans, Democrats and independents to come together, take a long hard look at our problems and then propose real, lasting solutions.
As part of his agenda, Giuliani, in an apparent ’90s flashback, proposes that New York impose strict term limits — because if there’s one thing New York doesn’t need, it’s experienced policymakers with institutional knowledge in state government — before demanding mandatory “supermajorities” for all tax increases. “A supermajority,” Giuliani said, “would protect already over-burdened citizens and attract businesses, improving our long-term competitiveness.”
In other words, the former mayor is watching the budgetary catastrophe unfold in California and thinks, “Hey, we should do that, too!”
It’s obviously too soon to know what kind of gubernatorial candidate Giuliani would be, but by all appearances, his time has come and gone. His claim to fame — performance on 9/11 — drew scrutiny, and turned out to be rather humiliating. And don’t even get me started on Bernie Kerik and all the alleged criminals Giuliani hung out with in recent years.
It was no doubt embarrassing for Giuliani to invest millions in a presidential campaign that produced exactly zero delegates, but why keep trying?
Don’t go away mad, Rudy. Just go away.
