Edwards Campaign: "Karl Rove Is Writing Rudy's Script These Days"
Okay, this is getting interesting -- the Rudy Giuliani vs. John Edwards war is heating up today.
Rudy just appeared on a radio show and blasted Edwards over the Dem's speech on terrorism yesterday. Rudy:
"He's gonna restructure the military, which I guess means new uniforms, he's gonna rely on proven methods of intelligence gathering, which I imagine nobody else would rely on," said Giuliani on the Dennis Miller Radio Show today."He's gonna hold, catch this one, hold regular meetings with military leaders, I guess no president has ever done that before, I recall seeing lots of pictures of presidents holding meetings with military leaders."
You probably were aware that Rudy was being sarcastic there. Rudy also said a few other things about how Edwards' take on terror is a reflection of his "liberal mindset."
In response, the Edwards campaign continued tying Rudy to Bush:
"Sounds like Karl Rove is writing Rudy Giuliani's script these days -- all fear and no substance. If voters want four more years of George W. Bush's disastrous foreign policy, which has left us with more terrorists and fewer allies, then Giuliani is the guy. But if Americans want a smart, mission-focused approach to shutting down terrorists and keeping America safe, John Edwards is their next commander-in-chief."
The "more terrorists and fewer allies" is a good formulation, and describing Rudy as being willing to continue Bush's war seems sound enough. But the Edwards camp probably will need to respond to some of the substance of Rudy's attack in a bit more detail if this continues, rather than letting him frame the discussion about Edwards' views.
Meanwhile, worth noting: The back and forth probably benefits both candidates by boosting them with their respective primary electorates, which is probably why both sides are happy to play this game.
Is it just me, or is there a whiff of gay-bashing in Giuliani's comment about new uniforms (Edwards=pretty boy=all he cares about the military is how the boys look in uniform)? Maybe I'm being paranoid, but if not, it's pretty rich from our only cross-dressing candidate. How low can the man go? Oh wait, it's Rudy ... somebody reserve the Marianas Trench.
June 8, 2007 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
ONce the general election rolls around, the quote should be modified to:
All of the Republican candidates think Bush is doing a mighty fine job with Iraq, so let's make sure the voters are constantly reminded of the Republicans' trying to outBush, Bush.
June 8, 2007 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hot diggity! Edwards is taking it to him!! Gut punch ..good!!!
June 8, 2007 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good catch. I think you are right. After all, uniforms are about appearance, just like haircuts!
June 8, 2007 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Dennis Miller Radio Show with what, an audience of 3?
The same Dennis Miller who's going to be having his own show on the Game Show Network??
Still, I'm delighted that Edwards is punching back, immediately.
June 8, 2007 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
And Rudy will pick out the cutest dresses for the troops that match his shoes and ear rings when he chooses to "dress" feminine.
Did Rudy just describe Bush?
Ignores traditional intelligence?
Check.
Appoint a "war czar' so he doesnt' have to meet with those "military leaders?"
Check.
Cluttering his beautiful mind (like mamma) and all that ya' know.
June 8, 2007 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sounds like Rosie and Trump.
June 8, 2007 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Blue, you make an interesting point about the tone of Rudy's remarks. To that end, you might want to research the way he hounded Schools Chancellor Ramon Cortines. It was a sad, ugly situation.
June 8, 2007 2:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
actually, greg, i'm not sure that edwards needs to respond with more substance to giuliani (as distinct from generally fleshing out his positions over time). if there's one thing the last couple of presidential elections have shown us (and hell, maybe it was always true), it's that the more substantive candidate doesn't get his substance heard over the din of the noise machine.
so i'd say stick with the "more terrorists and fewer allies" formulation and the "you want four more years of bush? vote giuliani" formulation and leave it at that.
given enough potshots, giuliani will say something so apalling in response that he'll take care of himself.
June 8, 2007 2:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Howard -- I dunno. I saw Rudy up close for years as Mayor of NYC -- he's much, much more formidable than folks think.
I also think the 9/11 myth is an overwhelmingly powerful one, that Rudy's bond with the electorate was forged at a moment of extreme vulnerability...
...I guess my point is that we shouldn't just count on Rudy blowing himself up...
I just did another post about this, I'd be interested to hear your reaction...
June 8, 2007 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. I kept waiting for George Bush in 1999-2000 what an appalling jerk he actually was, and wow, that worked out really well, didn't it?
June 8, 2007 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rudy sneers at the idea of restructuring the military, but he's ignoring that that's exactly what Rumsfeld set out to do. Of course, Rumsfeld botched the job by being an arrogant SOB, but I always thought that the basic premise had some merit: that a military designed to meet the demands of the Cold War era of clashes between superpowers is not the one best suited to face the threats posed by non-state ad hoc militia units. Doesn't mean that we can completely ditch the heavy equipment and the traditional fighting forces, but I do think more emphasis on special forces and intelligence units (real intelligence, not the "fixed around the policy" variety of Feith & co.) is in order.
June 8, 2007 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rudy has for many years been an ardent supporter of the IRA, an organization which has killed as many people as Al Qaeda.
Moreover the IRA tried to murder Thatcher and the rest of her cabinet.
In 1994 Rudy gave Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA and Sinn Fein a humanitarian award. A few months later Rudy's friends blew up a shopping mall in Birmingham.
Rudy is no fighter against terrorism, he is just a play acting phony. He even went to an IRA/NORAID fundraiser sonn after 9/11.
June 8, 2007 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would say: If you want 4 more years of George Bush, with lipstick and a dress,...vote for Rudy and you'll get the worse foreign policy that America has ever had.
"Restructuring the military=new uniforms",...equates to saying "pretty boy edwards just knows fashion". It's definitely painting Edwards as close to a gay man stereotype without actually saying it. It's not just no substance, it's an untruthful "low blow". Sorry Rudy no gay pun intended.
It's funny how this homophobic tactics always comes around come election time. Check out the surgeon general hearings, that will put Barack and Hilary into a homophobic discussion and the pundits will exploit that to a max.
America is a sad place for politics.
June 8, 2007 3:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, I think Edwards is doing a good job of responding to Giuliani precisely because he's not letting Giuliani frame the argument, but instead is pushing his own frame that Giuliani foreign policy = Bush foreign policy and that a Giuliani presidency = 4 more years of Bush.
He's also doing a good job being just as aggressive about presenting his view of Rudy as Rudy is about smearing Dems. That's a good thing. Right now, some of the euphoria people felt after the 2006 election is wearing off. There is a lot of frustration in the public that Congress hasn't managed to do much to push back against Bush on Iraq and a sense that Democrats don't have what it takes to lead the country back out of the wilderness. By aggressively hanging Bush around Rudy's neck, Edwards is setting up a good emotional dynamic for both his own prospects in the primaries and for Democratic fortunes in the general.
I hope Edwards keeps on doing more of the same. In fact, to reward him for his speech on terrorism and his smackdowns of Rudy I've just made my first donation for the 2008 season to the Edwards campaign. If he keeps up this kind of aggressive and smart truth-telling, he may also get my vote.
June 8, 2007 3:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
After 8 years of Bush, do we really want to keep crossing the line between tough and dumb?
June 8, 2007 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
All Edwards has to do is say this:
"How can a man who is too much of a coward to defend American citizens from the environmental hazards of 9/11 defend our nation?"
Game over.
June 8, 2007 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absolutely. The man is a coward hiding behind a bully persona. Just tell it like it is and he will crumple or be crumpled. I haven't seen a reference on this site to one of G's henchmen having a reporter arrested for asking the 'wrong' question about G.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOerYpJse30
June 8, 2007 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the tip -- I hadn't followed the schools story. Since the official media line on Rudy appears to be "Republican friend of gays and supporter of gay rights," the gay-baiting rhetoric goes (almost completely) unremarked, from what I can tell. He really is a piece of work.
June 8, 2007 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish ... but my fear is that some large percentage of the voting public immediately tunes out the second they hear the word "environmental." Tho' maybe it's different post-Inconvenient Truth.
June 8, 2007 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a fair assessment.
So how about this one:
"Can Rudy explain to us why he suggested a man with ties to organized crime lead the dept of homeland security? "
or
"What's going to be America's Amadou Diallo? California? Kansas? The Economy?"
June 8, 2007 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
How about "Nightmarish Toxic Aftermath of 9-11?"
June 8, 2007 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
So many soundbites, so little time...
June 8, 2007 4:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Edwards has to be as tough on Guilani as Guliani is 'tough on terrorism'. I think the US is ready for a sane terrorism policy but not for a weak-kneeded President. Sure the Dems best be willing to talk to anyone sane but this excludes the Republicans running for President. The Republican canidates are best treated as having no valid points as these canidates have no valid points. This in no call for Swiftboating. One is quite able to be very tough on the Republican canidates and also fair. Ms. Bipartisan i.e. Hilary Clinton best give some signals that bipartisanship extends only to the bounds of sanity and exludes individuals such as Newt Gingrich and Rupert Murdoch.
June 8, 2007 6:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
I thinks its a decent reponse. Edwards is tying Giuliani to Bush, which BTW is entirely fair. If it were me and Giuliani were being sarcastic I would challenge him to explain why, if Bush has been doing all the right things, has the occupation of Iraq become such a miserable failure?
-Dave Adams-
June 8, 2007 7:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Edwards' strategy here reminds me of Visa's "but they don't take American Express" campaign. Visa took on AmEx, rather than its real competitor, in order to position the much bigger MasterCard as a non-issue. It was cheeky and risky and ultimately extremely successful. By jumping ahead to engage Giuliani, Edwards is acting like he already has the nomination sewn up. He's talking about Rudy, but he's thinking about Hillary.
June 8, 2007 10:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not that I have any particular fondness for the IRA, but I am very curious about the factual basis for that statement.
Even were Al Qaeda responsible only for 9/11 and no other killings in its history (plainly an enormously generous supposition) that would still far exceed the IRA's death toll from 1969-present day of under 1800.
That does of course assume that you are referring to the Provisional IRA (as is commonly meant by the term IRA) and not the official IRA who fought the British army in the early 20th century. I make that assumption because in the rest of your text you are plainly referring to the Provisionals.
June 11, 2007 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink