Queasy Giuliani Faithful Ask For Truth On Trips

[CatWoman]

‘Own Up or Explain,’ Says New Hampshire Backer Charbonneau

Rudy Giuliani’s supporters are unsettled.

“Yeah, I’m starting to have second thoughts,” said Garry Biniecki, the undersheriff of Sanilac County in Michigan, whom the Giuliani campaign recently rolled out as a “Michigan Leader.”

Mr. Biniecki said that his support for the former mayor originally stemmed from Mr. Giuliani’s performance on Sept. 11, but he described himself as “a little gun shy” after all the recent coverage: stories about the indictment of his former Police Chief Bernard Kerik, and then, last week, an unflattering report about the ways in which Mr. Giuliani’s administration accounted for his personal security expenses.

“It doesn’t sit well,” Mr. Biniecki said. “And then you wonder what else there is.”

Mr. Giuliani’s campaign has scrambled to put supporters like Mr. Biniecki at ease, holding multiple conference calls with influential supporters to address their concerns, according to Mr. Giuliani’s chief political adviser, Tony Carbonetti.

Also, they have expended considerable energy trying to stanch the damage at its source, after an initial delay, by attacking the story itself.

The article, published on the Politico Web site, revealed that Mr. Giuliani’s security detail had racked up significant expenses accompanying him on trips to Southampton, where his mistress lived at the time, then filed the expenses through obscure city agencies. The campaign has not had a good day since.

The New York press reacted enthusiastically to the security expenses story, with the Daily News and Newsday running multiple front-page follow-ups. (One News headline: “Doesn’t Add Up! Now Rudy Camp Changes Story Over Tryst Dollar Accounting.”)

Then, on Nov. 30, The New York Times wrote a remarkably unequivocal A1 piece detailing the inaccuracy of the statistics he cites on the campaign trail, and ran another story four days later pointing out that the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm, of which Mr. Giuliani is a partner, lobbied for Ethiopian clients advocating positions contrary to American foreign policy.

It all seems to be taking a toll: A USA Today/Gallup Poll of national Republican and Republican-leaning voters published on Dec. 3 showed Mr. Giuliani slipping nine percentage points in a month to 25 percent.

http://www.observer.com/2007/queasy-giuliani-faithful-ask-truth-trips

[mike_c]

1. this couldn't happen to a more deserving POS....

:rofl:

[Cha]

17. rudy...we knew ya

too well.

[The Magistrate]

2. Beautiful, Ma'am, Eh?

"The quarterback is toast."

[CatWoman]

12. burn, baby, burn

:rofl:

[The Magistrate]

13. Sex And Money, Ma'am: Something For Everyone....

"A comedy tonight!"

[Lautremont]

3. I believe they were queasy before they learned of the tryst trips.

They're just queasy-ass people.

[Cha]

18. Gotta be, huh?

Anyone that's fooled by rudy is not getting the whole picture tuned in.

[Mz Pip]

4. I suspect

that this is just the tip of the iceberg. It will get harder and harder for Guiliani supporters to continue living in their state of denial. Give it a few more weeks and Guiliani will be toast.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Kahuna]

5. Tsk tsk tsk..

:applause:

[Mojambo]

6. Now just take down Huckabee and we can eat Romney alive. n/t

[TwilightGardener]

7. Hee! They've got no one, NO ONE I tell ya!

[cali]

8. I don't know

McCain could end up being the last man standing and I'm not sure how great that would be.

[TwilightGardener]

10. Honestly, even if he were, I think he'd ultimately lose. His time has really

passed, and he looks and sounds so old. And most of us don't want war until eternity. I think many non-political-junkie people have fond memories and goodwill towards him, and that's why he polls high in general matchups. But if the race narrowed, his bad points will be on prominent display. I cna't see him even getting the nom, though. They just damn don't like him in the GOP.

[gratuitous]

9. Giuliani spokesman gratuitous responds

None o' yer fuckin' business! Shut up and vote for Rudy. Or die horribly at the hands of terrorists. Your choice.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. Other than the fact Ru911dy looks like a '54 Buick grille

what the hell did his mistress see in him anyway?

Times must be tough in the Hamptons..............

[Pastiche423]

21. Whadda ya think she saw in him?

$$$

If Rudy din't have any money, there would be no RudyJudi.

[PATRICK]

14. Apparently

his base lacks the amoral stamina of Bushies. That's what you get when you START by overselling your high road heroics in books and speeches. Bush just oozed into the nomination. Guiliani is marching in like it was a NYC parade with himself as the Grand Marshall, but the choice process has not even begun.

[Bitwit1234]

15. Think rudi pulled this DuMond or however you spell his name.

out of the hat to try to take the heat off his girl friend gate.

[Cha]

16. Well, Root Toot Tootie...

People need to get over that 9/11 image and look at the real rudy..just ask the Firemen of New York City!

[malaise]

19. Stick one of these in Rudy

[sendero]

20. Anyone who would support...

.... Ghouliani over his "performance on 911" is a dim bulb.

He did NOTHING that 95% of able-bodied Americans wouldn't have done. The idea that there was some kind of extraordinary "performance" is a media-created fiction that could only be believed by really dumb people.

[DLnyc]

22. Rassmussen, which has a very conservative sample usually, has RG 17, Hk 20

Rudey is down to 3 points behind Huckabee (17-20), in Rass's (biased) polling, compared to ahead by 15 (27-12) on 11/29.

Pretty much of a freefall, if you compare against longterm trends (according to their robo-polling).

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_2008__1/daily_presidential_tracking_polling_history

I'm very happy to see any Dem run against any rethug, except for Rudey. The other rethugs, IMO, are dimwits but Rudey is a very dangerous psychopathic maniac, IMHO (and from some direct experience as a NYer).

He should stick to collecting exwives/concubines/etc.s and be kept at least 100 yards away from any heavy machinery or positions of political significance!