Giuliani snapshot

I sure like this guy. America's mayor is now testing the waters to see if he might run for the Oval Office. Fat chance. He has two strikes against him already. First, I like him and that's not a good sign for anyone who wants to be successful in politics. Second, read this:

When Giuliani started to speak, I was expecting a Lifetime vignette: A story about a fallen firefighter or a 9/11 widow bearing up under unspeakable pain, or perhaps a riff about how he looks out his office window toward lower Manhattan and never forgets. Every other politician is misusing the 9/11 anniversary, why wouldn't he? But he did none of that, showing tasteful restraint he'll have to give up if he actually runs for president.

Instead, Giuliani's remarks about 9/11 were general.

"Sept. 11 is not over. It's not just a piece of our history. Sept. 11 is still going on. There are still people like that who want to attack us today. They're trying to do an attack that's even bigger than Sept. 11 to kill more Americans. That's just the reality of the world we live in. To deal with it, you have to be on offense." And the mayor didn't even mention Iraq as the central front of the war on terror.

[...]

At least one person in the audience seemed disappointed that Giuliani was being so stingy right in the middle of half-priced red-meat week. As the mayor answered the last of the three questions from reporters, he talked about the root causes of terrorism: "oppressive governments that demagogue and blame and project their problems other places and do nothing to solve the problems of their own people."

"Sounds like the Democrats," shouted a man.

The crowd roared.

It was the kind of stupid remark candidates usually ignore. They either agree but can't show that they do, or they don't want to cause a stir by contradicting one of the partisans they've come to court. Giuliani's aides were already preparing to move him to his waiting SUV. He could have just left.

"Time out," he said bringing his hands together to make a T. "Time out." The crowd quieted down.

"The other thing we have to learn is that we can't get into this partisan bickering. The fact is that Republicans and Democrats have the same objectives. … Democrats are loyal Americans. Republicans are loyal Americans. I think we have better answers, but we have to respect each other."

This guy is never getting the nomination.

Yep. I think he's right.
Yeah, I read Andrew Sullivan, too.