Friday, November 09, 2007
McCain-Giuliani lovefest is over
[SEE UPDATE BELOW - 11/9/07 2146]
After all of the mutual compliments, and Rudy's quip in an earlier debate that he'd be endorsing McCain if he weren't running himself, things are getting testy now. Johnny Mac came out with this broadside on Rudy:
Rudy's book was called "Leadership." This is the kind of dig that goes at the raison d'etre of the Giuliani candidacy. Expect a strongly worded response.
From McCain's vantage point, this shows he's shifting his focus somewhat. Instead of fighting with Romney to become "the conservative alternative to Rudy," McCain might be realizing he'll have more success courting the national security wing of the GOP where Giuliani currently holds a commanding lead. If McCain's calculation works out, and his attacks on Rudy gain traction, we may truly be in a 5-way tie for the race.
Strange times.
UPDATE:
Well, that didn't take long. As predicted, the Giuliani camp took little time responding:
After all of the mutual compliments, and Rudy's quip in an earlier debate that he'd be endorsing McCain if he weren't running himself, things are getting testy now. Johnny Mac came out with this broadside on Rudy:
"'I don't know Mr. Kerik. I do know that I went to Baghdad shortly after the initial victory and met in Baghdad with (Ambassador Paul) Bremer and (Lt. Gen. Ricardo) Sanchez. And Kerik was there. Kerik was supposed to be there to help train the police force. He stayed two months and one day left, just up and left,' McCain told reporters traveling on his campaign bus.
'That's why I never would've supported him to be the head of homeland security because of his irresponsible act when he was over in Baghdad to try and help train the police. One of the reasons why we had so much trouble with the initial training of the police was because he came, didn't do anything and then went out to the airport and left.'
He said the situation reflected a fundamental misunderstanding by Giuliani of how the U.S. government works.
'As the tragic deaths of the 343 members of the New York Fire Department on 9/11 make plain, America's first responders are on the front line of this war'...
'It's a fundamental lack of experience. ... I mean it's great to have led a major city. I mean, his post-crisis handling was fine. But that certainly doesn't mean you're qualified to lead.'"
Rudy's book was called "Leadership." This is the kind of dig that goes at the raison d'etre of the Giuliani candidacy. Expect a strongly worded response.
From McCain's vantage point, this shows he's shifting his focus somewhat. Instead of fighting with Romney to become "the conservative alternative to Rudy," McCain might be realizing he'll have more success courting the national security wing of the GOP where Giuliani currently holds a commanding lead. If McCain's calculation works out, and his attacks on Rudy gain traction, we may truly be in a 5-way tie for the race.
Strange times.
UPDATE:
Well, that didn't take long. As predicted, the Giuliani camp took little time responding:
In a press statement today, Giuliani Communications Director Katie Levinson said McCain oversaw a campaign that “spiraled completely out of control and went bankrupt, and now, he wants a questionable $3 million loan.”
“Americans need someone in the White House who knows how to balance their own checkbook before they try to balance the federal government’s,” Levinson added. “They don’t need John McCain; they need Rudy Giuliani -- who has actually balanced a budget and made a payroll.”
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4 comments:
Hmmm, interesting choice of words by McCain, the ones you emphasized:
It's a fundamental lack of experience. ... I mean it's great to have led a major city. I mean, his post-crisis handling was fine. But that certainly doesn't mean you're qualified to lead.
I give McCain a lot of credit for many things, not least of which is his war experience. But I don't think anyone in the race has more leadership experience than Rudy (who successfully ran the largest, most complex city in the country if not the world and turned around fiscal + criminal problems), and Mitt (business + govt). Being a senator hardly qualifies as "leadership" experience, so I don't think this is an angle that McCain should emphasize. Ultimately, I think it is a bad idea for him (or anyone) to challenge Rudy on leadership. Pick another angle, there are many to choose from.
I see your point, but I think it's intentional on McCain's part. I think he's unwilling to leave the "leadership" mantra in Rudy & Mitt's court, and wants to change perceptions of what makes for a leadership in the current geopolitical environment. While McCain isn't going to out-and-out poo poo fiscal issues, I think he's coming at this thing with the attitude of, "Great, you guys (Mitt/Rudy) get the trains to run on time. Nice skill set for a governor or CEO. But now we're playing with the big boys on the world stage, and you have to know the players and been immersed in the issues to be ready to handle the responsibility. If you get foreign policy wrong, (for example: embrace Putin like W, or fail to take advantage of intel on Al Qaeda like Clinton) the ramifications are severe. No-one's going to care what your out-year projections are for reducing the SS deficit or Medicare Part D costs."
I think in his mind, he's shown judgment and been on-the-record for two decades of foreign policies issues, something that newcomers to federal scene simply haven't.
It may be an uphill climb for McCain to convince voters that being a leading voice (and sometimes the lone voice in the dark, as with the initial reactions to the Surge) on foreign policy issues is the same as being a leader, but it's a shot he has to take. He's the underdog now, and he simply can't concede the point that he's a weaker leader than the other guys. And I think he has a shot at succeeding: if there's one thing most Americans will buy from McCain, it's that he has character. Character builds trust, and trust is the necessary ingredient for leadership.
Case in point: the front page of McCain's website links to an RCP article that begins thusly:
"In short, by any measure, no Republican candidate running for president has the foreign policy experience and credentials McCain boasts.
This is going to be McCain's primary message heading into IA, NH, and SC.
It was actually the excerpt of the RCP article on McCain's site that began with that quote...