Bloomberg goes there

The only negative aspects of watching the Yankees over the weekend was seeing the repeated shots of the cadaverous visage of Rudolph Giuliana in the front row.

And now he's back, appearing on the stump with Bloomberg, reminding us that if a black man is again allowed to be mayor of the city, then we'll be right back to the era when Shaft was walking through Times Square.

Mr. Giuliani did not mention Mr. Bloomberg’s Democratic challenger, William C. Thompson Jr., by name. But during the first of two campaign events alongside Mr. Bloomberg, he said that not long ago many parts of the city were gripped by “the fear of going out at night and walking the streets.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Mr. Giuliani said at a breakfast sponsored by the Jewish Community Council in Borough Park, Brooklyn. “This city could very easily be taken back in a very different direction — it could very easily be taken back to the way it was with the wrong political leadership.”

Bloomberg's spent a trillion dollars (approximately) on his reelection against an opponent who is as hapless a politician as you'll ever see, and yet he cannot resist an opportunity to double down on the nastiness. It shows about as much good judgment as his decision to sort of run for president last year on the Lieberman for Connecticut ticket (or something).

Will to power

Adam Liptak wonders aloud how much of the new and improved imperial presidency the Bush/Cheney successor will maintain.

I don't think it's that difficult to find an answer, at least for a few of the leading candidates. On the Democratic side, Hllary Clinton's voting patterns in the Senate have been consistent in upholding the power of the presidency, clearly with an eye on her future and inspired by her husband's battles with Congress. In Giuliani's case...please. Huckabee's imperious and nasty behavior towards "enemies" as governor of Arkansas are mighty telling. He may be stupid, and dangerous, but he certainly never forgets his prerogatives. And let's not forget Romney...

Giuliani's popularity

Drum on Giuliani. It's not just the "sheen of 9/11..."

Actually, I suspect it's Rudy's other campaign plank that really explains his popularity. Sure, 9/11 is a big part of his persona, but his crime reduction record in New York City might be an even bigger one. Think about it: in the eye of the public, he's literally the only presidential candidate who's actually accomplished anything concrete. He made New York City livable. It doesn't matter whether this is true; it only matters that this is what people think. And no other candidate has anything close to it. All they can say is that they sponsored a bill or survived Vietnam or ran a company. Big deal. But Rudy, regardless of how he did it, can say that he actually governed a political entity and made it better. Considering the low opinion most people have of politicians, that's a helluva powerful asset.

I'd go one better. It's how Giuliani is perceived to have made NYC "livable (funny, I lived there pre and during Giuliani, and found the pre quite livable...fun, even)." Giuliani is perceived by the GOP base as having kicked some dark skinned ass and conquered the savages running amok through the five boroughs, something he's not so subtly telling them he'll do with Iran and the Islamowhatevers.