Former New York City Mayor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani was on Meet The Press Today. Rudy Giuliani to this point has been deflecting most of the questions coming his way and has been "revving" his political engine, moving forward in his campaign, with more energy than any NASCAR driver. Tim Russert, Moderator of Meet The Press, is no pushover on anyone's scorecard. Rudy Giuliani has lived through two divorces, conflicts with his children and of course having recommended Bernard Kerik as head of Home Land Security. Recently issues have come up regarding funds being paid by New York City Tax Payers for his then friend and now wife Judith Nathan. Giuliani is self effacing saying he will not win all of the Presidential Primaries, but will work very hard in capturing as many votes as he can. Rudy Giuliani is in this race for the long term, so he says. He was quite clear on this point in responding to Russert's question, should he lose in Iowa and New Hampshire. Rudy Giuliani is taking a more moderate approach regarding Iran Policy. Giuliani has stated that the United States should keep the "pressure" on Iran. I take this to mean "Diplomatic Pressure". Rudy told Tim Russert "Military Options" should not be taken off the table in dealing with Iran. Sounds like Rudy Giuliani is still getting advice from the Neo-cons, Wolfowitz being on top of that list. Giuliani is smart in answering Russert's questions as would any good attorney. He can only take things at "face value", Responding to the question that the Intelligence community is attempting to undermine George Bush by releasing certain documents on Iran. Giuliani wants to avoid committing to any specific date to have our troops out of Iraq. He told Tim Russert, "when has any nation told the enemy when they would leave"? Rudy Giuliani said that he did not see the "enormity" of the situation regarding the threat from "Al Qeada" to New York City as far back as 1993 and again in 1998. Rudy Giuliani had the right answer for his leaving the position as a member of the Iraq Study Group. Giuliani said it could be a possible conflict with his running for President. Russert brought up the fact that Giuliani was making several million dollars giving speeches at that time. I suppose Russert would not want to make that kind of money. Russert does write books and I guess he does not earn that kind of money. Huh! Tim Russert has been working very hard trying to catch Rudy Giuliani in a "mis-speak". To this point Giuliani has been the better litigator. Giuliani has stated that he and his campaign will seek to meet all the standards and requirements involved in running for the office of President. Rudy Giuliani is a smart politician. Rudy did not get this far in the game of Politics by not being capable. Tim Russert has "sliced and diced" many Politicians on his program. Tim Russert is not accomplishing much today. Rudy is still smiling and answering questions with the notion that he will be the Republican candidate. Bernard Kerik is Russerts next "salvo" being thrown at Giuliani. Russert alleges to Giuliani that he knew of Kerik's ethical problems prior to appointing Bernard Kerik as New York City Police Commissioner. Rudy says he "made a mistake". He is turning this mistake into a plus saying that he, Giuliani, has appointed hundreds if not thousands of people to positions of authority with a large measure of success. Giuliani did point out although it was his mistake to appoint Kerik, Bernard Kerik did the job of reducing crime in New York City. Giuliani has "generally" had good judgment about people 95-98% of the time. Threat Assessments, so says Rudy Giuliani to Tim Russert, in response to Tim's question on security for Rudy Giuliani's then girl friend Judith Nathan. In the legal area Rudy Giuliani again "Trumps" Russert. Yeah, Donald Trump could not have said it better than did Rudy Giuliani to Mr. Russert. The program has but five minutes left and Tim Russert has failed to ask the real questions to Rudy Giuliani. What about the looming Medicare, Budget, Unfunded Entitlements that the Nations faces. Russert missed the boat on all of these very important issues. Too much on "muckraking", not enough on substance. Russert lost this debate and should be held accountable. I am not a Rudy Giuliani fan or supporter. Rudy Giuliani did not make any mistakes, in fact he demonstrated that he can "take a punch". Comments, opinions.................
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