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Rudy's Back!
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As speculation builds about his campaign for governor, Rudy Giuliani tells The Daily Beast’s John Avlon—who served as his chief speechwriter on his presidential campaign—how he’d tame the nation’s most dysfunctional legislature. Can America’s Mayor become New York’s governor?
In Albany, the inmates are running the asylum. The state senate is entering its fourth week of partisan lockdown, cementing its reputation as the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation. Mayor Bloomberg’s successful school-reform program could expire midweek if no action is taken. A recent poll showed that 20% of New Yorkers want to leave the state amid rising taxes, poverty and unemployment rates, and parallels to the bad old days of the 1970s. At least one guy’s not buying it: “Once you say something’s ungovernable,” Rudy Giuliani told me, “You remove accountability.”
“Once you say something’s ungovernable,” Giuliani told me, “You remove accountability.”
Rudy’s back, doing what he does best: proposing how to clean up the mess. He’s hitting the airways and pumping out op-eds in The New York Times. With regard to New York State, Giuliani is calling for a state constitutional convention centered on systemic fixes such as gubernatorial budget authority, term limits, campaign-finance reform and redistricting reform. “The state needs to be fundamentally modernized,” Rudy says. “Many of these suggestions have enjoyed bipartisan support in the past. What’s been missing is action.” He wants to begin a larger debate: “If you have a better way of reforming state government, then come up with it. Just don't sit back and say ‘I can't do anything about it.’” His efforts are being met with speculation that he’ll run for governor in 2010.
New Yorkers know Rudy Giuliani does best in a crisis. I’ve seen that up close, working with him in City Hall. And the Empire State is wrestling with two huge problems with long-term ramifications.
First, the mess in Albany, where corruption and scandal have left only one out of four statewide elected Albany officials where the voters put them less than three years ago. The serial dysfunction has hit tragicomic proportions in recent weeks, with party defections and parliamentary games like one party turning out the lights while the other locks the legislative door and hides the key. Literally.
Second, the state economy is a mess: New York has lost 1.5 million people this decade and 195,000 private-sector jobs in the past year. The number of upstate manufacturing jobs has declined by 24% and the only sector growing north of the Hudson River Valley is the government. In the face of the worst economic crisis in a generation, the Democratic-controlled legislature raised taxes by $8 billion and spending by an unprecedented 9 percent.
Some people see parallels to the shape of New York state today and the shape of New York City when Rudy ran for mayor. Back in 1993, crime rates were near historic highs, one out of every seven New Yorkers was on Welfare and the city had lost 330,000 jobs in the previous four years. Fifty-nine percent of New Yorkers said they’d leave the city if they could and legendary Democratic Senator Patrick Moynihan declared that we were “defining deviancy down.” Rudy rejected the idea of inevitable decline, and crime, welfare rolls and unemployment rates all dropped by half. He was not perfect and did not pretend to be. His actions were too aggressive for some. But nobody asks if New York City is ungovernable anymore.
When I asked Rudy whether he’s decided to run for governor, he said he hasn’t decided. I know him: Believe it. But polls in New York show an interesting opportunity. The Marist poll’s hypothetical head-to-head matchups show Rudy defeating Governor Paterson by 56% to 32%, while trailing Attorney General (and son of Mario) Andrew Cuomo. What’s most revealing is a look at the cross-tabs showing Rudy winning the support of 38% of Democrats, 54% of moderates, and 56% of independents, as well as 58% of voters who make less than $50,000 a year. Republicans realize that he might be their last shot in a state that is down to two GOP congressmen from 13 a decade ago. “Rudy Giuliani has proven time and again that he commands the leadership skills to bring order and prosperity out of chaos and dysfunction,” says Michael McCormack, GOP chairman in FDR country, Dutchess County.
Whether he leads a state constitutional convention or runs to lead the Albany statehouse itself, a Rudy resurgence has the potential to be bigger than just turning the tide in New York. A cleanup there could show the national Republican Party a path out of the wilderness, with a focus on fiscal responsibility, effective governance, political reform, and economic growth—a big-tent prescription based on the principles that Republicans used to stand for.
John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast and is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
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John P. Avlon writes a column for The Daily Beast and is author of the forthcoming Attack of the Wingnuts, to be published in January by Beast Books. He is also the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics. Previously, he served as chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will do everything I can to make sure this man is NEVER EVER the governor of my state.
Wait, but he solved the crime problem.
As a NY'er, I can say without a dobut that our state government is the most dysfunctional in the nation. Could Rudy be our next governor? Sure. I don't think that his appointment of the most corrupt police commissioner in the NYPD's history would hinder his chances. Someone has to make those in Albany play nice in the sand box.
I know I know-
I've said this before
But if you haven't seen it
Go to YouTube and watch
'Rudy Giuliani in drag'
You'll be entertained and delighted.
On the other hand-
You may wish you could scrub your eyeballs.
Yes, it would take some as incorrigibly dysfunctional as the ex-mayor to understand the NY legislature's . Surely, in its role as perennial bane, they'll fight him and hopefully, finish him off politically. Once and for all. Someone's gotta do it.
Well, well, the Grinning Doofus who garnered one delegate in his recent quest to burden the Country as its president is back again to feed us his rightwinger drivel and send his pathetic Dupes into a frenzy of worshipful joy.
Joe Biden said it best:
Rudy Giuliani is an noun, a verb and 9/11.
Thats all he can talk about - the WTC attack and himself as mayor.
The day before 9/11, Rudy's approval ratings were below 30%.
Everyone loves to forget
How unpopular Giuliani was-
Dismal.
9-11 was the best thing
That ever happened to him.
He and that Bush guy as well. (For a while.)
Come back Eliot Spitzer !! We need you !!
A power hungry self centered jerk? No wonder you're dysfunctional if that's what you think you need.
When you say "power hungry self centered jerk", are you referring to Mr Guiliani or Mr Spitzer?
We need a governor who can reform the clown circus in the state capitol. Having seen what Guiliani did to NYC, I don't want him in Albany.
It's amazing to me how intellectually dishonest every Republican writer on the Daily Beast is.
The latest polls show Giuliani's lead over Patterson down 7 points in just about a month. But even more dishonest is that Avlon casually throws out "while trailing Attorney General (and son of Mario) Andrew Cuomo". Not only is he trailing, he's getting destroyed, 51-39. And it's not like Giuliani is going to pick up more support. As we saw in the presidential primaries, the more you see of Rudy, the less you like him. He has absolutely no chance of winning the governor's race.
But don't let that stop his former speechwriter from cherry-picking poll numbers against the most unpopular politician in the U.S. to support his agenda.
I find it more as being out of touch with reality. "He could do all these great things and win Governor!", is what this article is saying. But he won't achieve either.
So those of you living in the bubble affluent auro of Manhatten can dis Rudy but I think John's last paragraph is right on.
My money would be on Rudy if he can let say devise a 12 point plan to re-populate, re-employ, re-develop the rest of the forgotten state. Plus something you haven't mentioned - rehab the judicial system so it works - certified real criminals to a super max, mentally ill medium criminals to help and supervision, drug addicts to a treatment supervision facility and the remaining to a sensible cost cutting/community benefit situation like the Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona deal. In short stop moving crime and manage it better- stop the ridiculous revolving door of in and out.
While I do no vote in NYS, I spend alot of time there. Last summer while in Rochester on an extended stay - I learned the anger of the locals. Folks there were very disappointed with Hillary as are other less populated parts of Western NY. They want more than a Wal-mart, Home Depot, Microtel strategy to bring them back to life.
If Rudy can deliver a plan - the rest of the state will buy. For the Apple whiners, you should be more concerned that no matter who is elected the days of money for noth'in, well that's just over period.
Cut me a break on the primaries - that was the GOP's last stand at looking for the perfect old white man candidate. Credentials had nothing to do with that show and we lost, question is how many times in the future will that be the party angle.
They do say that the measure of a man is how he responds to a crisis.
Maybe Rudy can become govenor of NY.
Short step away from president, which, as we all know, is his real goal.
Depends on what he can do.
If he can make promises and keep them to the betterment of NY, then more power to him.
If he treats the state like he treats his marriages, then pass.
New York is going to get cleaned up when the country gets cleaned up.
Every state in the country was running on a surplus when Clinton left office.
After 8 years of Bush every state is running a deficit.
Coincidence.
After 8 years of Bush why would you hire a Republican to do anything.
Texas was running great when Clinton was in office Bush the governor thought he made it happen.
What happened once he was appointed President.
Total Failure on every level imaginable and unimaginable.
While the GOP cheered his every move.
You people must be crazy or Sadist to vote Republican.
New York doesn't have the best track record for honor, integrity or legality, heck, they don't even elect their own citizens to government (Hillary Clinton as Senator is a great example) and they are taxing their citizens right out of the state.
New York could do worse than Rudy. He did a great job as Mayor, and both Democrats and Republicans admit that. You may like him or hate him for his politics, but he got results. He took on the mob, the greedy and the budget.
While President Bush did a good job of destroying Republican credibility, the Democrats don't have a very good track record anywhere when it comes to managing your money. NY, New Jersey, California, and all the rest are bankrupting their states.
I suggest the solution, as always, is to fire a few more elected officials, then hold their feet to the fire on accountability. It is time we stop wearing the badge of Republican or Democrat on our sleeve like it is an honor, it isn't. Those parties are just the tools to get work done. If we follow the Constitution, we'll be fine.
Lets start with getting us out of the "babysitter" business, that is parents, neighbors and locals jobs, and have the Fed deal not with bailouts but with guideouts. We should never pay for others failures. We should focus on guiding and encouraging and rewarding private business for doing the right thing and not rewarding those that fail and jeopardize the nation.
Our government needs to be a referee not a player, because as long as there is a difference in the parties, they will as a player continue to change the rules to their own advantage. If you like that now, you won't when the change in power occurs.
A little history:
1) Welfare didn't get people back to work, it created more baby factories.
2) Social Security didn't provide for retirement, it allowed us to pay down the war debt with another hidden tax and is allowing illegals to stay here today because they contribute and will never get those funds back.
3) FEMA: a long history of different parties direction failing to perform (Bush 1 - Florida hurricanes, Clinton - hurricanes and earthquakes, Bush 2 New Orleans)
4) Savings & Loan collapse
5) Ultra high gas prices
6) Banking Collapse
7) The UN
8) The "Great Society"
9) Vietnam
10) Cuba
11) Barney Frank and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac
12) Illegal and manipulated voting booths
13) Schools that don't teach kids how to balance a checkbook or get a job
The list can go on and on.
At some point we the people need to take roles in government ourselves, not hire lifetime individuals who couldn't hold a real job if it was handed to them.
We need to stop trying to solve everyones (the world and all the people) problems. We wouldn't and can't do that for our own kids, why are we even trying to do it for everyone? We need to encourage people how "to fish, not give them a fish".
In other words, get out of the way.
"You may like him or hate him for his politics, but he got results. He took on the mob, the greedy and the budget"
Giuliani also used the power of the DA's office to humiliate people it turned out he could not prosecute. He practically ruined their lives in the process. Can we say prosecutorial misconduct?
from Wikipedia:
Giuliani's critics claim he arranged public arrests of people, then dropped charges for lack of evidence on high-profile cases rather than going to trial. In a few cases, his public arrests of alleged white-collar criminals at their workplaces, with charges later dropped or lessened, irreparably damaged their reputations. He claimed that veteran stock trader Richard Wigton, of Kidder, Peabody & Co. was guilty of insider trading; in February 1987 he had officers handcuff Wigton and march him through the company's trading floor, with Wigton in tears. Giuliani had his agents arrest Tim Tabor, a young arbitrageur and former colleague of Wigton, so late that he had to stay overnight in jail before posting bond. However, in three months, charges were dropped against both Wigton and Tabor; Giuliani said, "We're not going to go to trial. We're just the tip of the iceberg," but no further charges were forthcoming and the investigation did not end until Giuliani's successor was in place. Giuliani's high-profile raid of the Princeton/Newport firm ended with the defendants having their cases overturned on appeal on the grounds that what they had been convicted of were not crimes.
That last sentence is worth contemplating. Yeah, Rudy's a prosecutor's prosecutor. Just hope he doesn't target YOU, innocent or not.
More from the party of family values.
Rudy is a ruthless SOB . Just what is needed in an executive .
Please read "Rudy Giuliani's Five Big Lies About 9/11"
On the stump, Rudy can't help spreading smoke and ashes about his lousy record
in The Village Voice, a NY newspaper.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-07-31/news/rudy-giuliani-s-five-big-lie s-about-9-11/
The 5 Big Lies:
1. 'I think the thing that distinguishes me on terrorism is, I have more experience dealing with it.
2. 'I don't think there was anyplace in the country, including the federal government, that was as well prepared for that attack as New York City was in 2001.'
3. Don't blame me for 7 WTC, Rudy says.
4. 'Democrats do not understand the full nature and scope of the terrorist war against us.'
5. 'Every effort was made by Mayor Giuliani and his staff to ensure the safety of all workers at Ground Zero.'
Read how Rudy's administration directly led to the deaths of NY firefighters on 9/11: " In the end, firefighters had to rely exclusively on their radios, and the inability of the Giuliani administration to find a replacement for the radios that malfunctioned in 1993 left them unable to talk to each other, even about getting out of a tower on the verge of collapse."
Yes, let us pause for a moment to imagine the spectacle of the entire FDNY and the PDNY gathering together, just for once, to condemn Rudy Giuliani's candidacy for governor. For it is Giuliani's administration the brave survivors can thank for not fixing all of the problems discovered after the 1993 WTC attacks, the communications problem chief among them.
And let's further envision ever single New Yorker cognizant of Giuliani's shameless 9/11 war profiteering ($100 million plus and counting daily) gathering together to condemn his candidacy.
There is so much documented evidence of his 9/11 profiteering, his administration's 9/11 ineptitude, and his 9/11 lies, that he doesn't have a prayer, even in ravaged New York.
And we are supposed to believe anything from Avlon, Rudy's butt boy
Much better than this Dumb Ass we have now. And "livinginct" if you are, then butt out, it doesn't concern you.
Well, if you like leftovers....Rudy's your man. Knowing NY as I do, it wouldn't be at all prudent to elect a man with Italian-American origins. It is just an open-ended Invitation for MOB Rule. I think we have had quite enough of that, thank you.
Reform means change. Perhaps Mr. Avalon has yet to understand this simple equation. It's not really Math, so it shouldn't be too hard for him to understand.
Perhaps most importantly, it was Rudy Giuliani who 'informed' the public, on the day of 911, that the air quality in the city was fine, that air monitors had been put out around the city, and that the readings from these air quality devices were all reading as normal. Of course, everyone who was anywhere near ground zero ended up dead of cancer within 1 year of inhaling the 'normal' air. What is the big deal about protecting The People which seems always to elude this man? Is it too hard to say "well, we really don't know how good the air is, but just look at it! Would you breathe in that air?" NY'ers will understand what that message means.
I'd hate to be on a sailboat with this guy. The moment the wind shifts and the boom flys over the centerline, looking for it's next victim, Rudy will be standing tall claiming that the wind had not shifted. Really now? Doesn't 'sensible' count for anything in this day and age?
What did Rudy do? Mount the air quality sensors at the Botanical Gardens?
This is a welfare state and anyone trying to build a business in this state is taxed to death to support the welfare state. Turn the welfare back to private enterprise and you will eliminate a huge problem in Albany. Who in their right mind would want to start a business here? The facts bare me out on this one.
He was AWOL most of the presidential campaign. It was a race between Rudy and Fred Thomson to see who could run the dumbest campaign ever. He just wasn't comfortable out in the hither lands where republicans have to swim.
So he's speaking publicly again. What's the over/under on when he announces he's divorcing the current victim and acquiring a new one?
let's see, New York is falling apart under Dem leadership, trailing only California in terms of proving why rampant liberalism is an abject failure, and Rudi is the problem? I love the left..ignore the problem, attack the other side.
did you really type this with a straight face?
Pot.
Kettle.
Black.
you're such a clown.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
"Rudy's Back!' says his former chief speech writer. You can skip this blog if you haven't already. Rudy is a crook. This America's mayor garbage is accepted everywhere outside of New York City. He won't be gov.
So where is that "flight recorder box" Dan Rather said you had, Rudy?
Thank you.
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